Friday, December 7, 2018

Joy to the World?

Browsing through social media for 3 minutes reminds us that there are tragedies all around us. The news is full of real life stories of loss, sadness, and pain. Our own personal lives have stories that we have shared (or kept to ourselves) that don’t have happy endings. So, how do we find joy, especially during Christmas?  

I have always wondered how people walk through the death of a child or a really hard situation with their kids, and still hold on to joy. Well, I had an opportunity to learn. We faced one of the hardest seasons of our life not too long ago, and I had to learn how to choose joy. Our second born was in a really hard season, so hard that it lead us to placing him in a residential treatment facility for a 1 year program. Everything in my life was turned upside down. I prayed so many prayers for my son, and it felt like God wasn’t listening. I really struggled finding God in the midst of a situation that felt so hopeless. Yet God met me in my hurt and my pain in such a real way, that I couldn’t deny that it was Him. I was sad and broken-hearted, but God reminded me that my circumstances aren’t where my joy comes from.  

It seems like every conversation I have had lately is about they heaviness of the burdens people are carrying. So many people have prayers that are seemingly unanswered, but are they? We live in a world that tells us that our circumstances lead to our happiness, but more often than not, its our pain that leads us to a place of answered prayer. 

Joy is truly found when you look for it. How many people missed out on the importance of Jesus’ birth? I like to ask myself if I would have been one of the ones that saw the star and found Jesus, or would I have been one of the ones who didn’t see it at all? What are you facing today that Jesus’ life doesn't give you victory over? Nothing. The same power that is in you is the same power that rose Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). Through the Spirit, we have the power to choose joy and we have “Joy to the World” inside of us. Let’s start small, and look for joy. I promise that if the joy you are looking for is Jesus, our Hope, then you will find Joy.

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