Week 3 of advent complete and we’re heading in to the final stretch. Anticipation building on this last day of only lighting 3 candles on the advent wreath.
This week we got to add the joy candle. It’s probably my favorite! The pink standing out against the purple. Bright against darkness. To be honest I’ve spent a lot of time this week wondering what I would put in this week-end post about joy. I struggled not because there was no reason for joy in this week but because I began to realize how these blessings of God, these fruits of the spirit … Hope… Peace… Joy… How they all just kind of blend together.
For example, I think we might be able to argue that it’s impossible to find yourself in a place of true joy without God’s peace. And can you have peace without hope in our Savior? It seems unlikely.
Despite how much they blend together, here were a few special moment of JOY this week:
- Witnessing a beautiful young woman I know join God’s family forever through baptism.
- Worshipping with the youth band on Sunday morning. Sitting there with some amazing youth, using the gifts God has given them to enter into true worship of our King and through their song, inviting a couple hundred people to join them in the throne room.
- Time spend with children, especially my awesome goddaughter and her two siblings… Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of children I think automatically brings joy.
- Dinner with one of the most amazing women I know.
- Little kids giggling in my backseat.
- Laughter with teammates
- Answered prayer
And the list goes on and on… The big things… The little things. Even if happiness eludes us, joy remains and the hymn reminded us to keep speaking joy over and over: “Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.”
And repeat it we do because there we remember the love of God.
“The secret of joy is always a matter of focus: a resolute focusing on the Father, not the fears. All fear is but the notion that God’s love ends. WHEN DOES HE EVER END!?!”
– Ann Voskamp
No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in this season, Joy HAS come to our world because the Lord Jesus has come. May we receive Him with glad hearts!
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