…And Now…JOY!
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth. Luke 1:14
The Hope of Heaven gives us Peace. From His Peace, we experience Joy.
Early mornings are my best times for writing. Enjoying the peaceful quietness in the house (except for the cat yowling to be fed), regardless of circumstances, I can find great joy just being in His Presence. It is during those specific moments when a Bible verse captures my attention…like this one.
We don’t often think about being His Joy and delight. Being caught up in the Christmas rush and activities, there is this tendency to hunt for joy, many go to great lengths to find it. We indulge in a little eggnog, a wowzer Christmas party, caroling, buying expensive gifts, etc. It’s strange, but facial expressions do not change. Obviously, we simply don’t know how to allow joy to happen.
I think we have missed an important concept in this verse. He will be a joy and delight to you. For some reason we flip it over and we try our hardest to become a joy and delight to Him.
While He showers us with unconditional love, we still put forth great effort to be good enough to please Him. After all these years, I still make attempts to be worthy of His Love. Not wanting to negate joy when He thinks about me, I fall into performance mode for Him.
How can He delight in me? I am such a goof ball, a dingbat, and crazy-headed, old woman this time of year. I must remember Who He is! His love never fails. He doesn’t get tired from shopping. He doesn’t bite off more than He can chew. He doesn’t make plans that are likely to fall apart. He doesn’t overspend. He doesn’t hope Amazon arrives on time.
Instead, He is a joy and delights in me.
When we come to believe this on a deeply personal level, we will be included in the many who will rejoice!
Heavenly Father, we praise You and worship You because only You are worthy. We confess that we try to impress You with our thoughts and actions. Thank You for Your patience and humanness. Please show us how to find Joy in You in all situations. AMEN.