Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 12 minutes ago
Watch and wait for the One who gives us an ability to know JOY during difficult times.
Like those who have gone before us, we recognize that through the hope we share and peace we enact in community, JOY can be known even in the midst of the most challenging circumstances.
JOY is more than just a feeling of satisfaction. There’s a spiritual dimension to rejoicing that has to more to do with our focus on a particular situation. In this way, JOY can be known even when we’re faced with something stressful or troublesome.
As it says in Romans 5, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.”
Christmas can indeed be JOY-filled, as we get caught up in the excitement of the season and reflect on all of the good things that we have. However, like in Bethlehem those many years ago, JOY is also about an outlook that gazes ahead to what is not yet. It’s an attitude that’s future-oriented, which doesn’t ignore what’s happening in the present.
With Mary – during the uncertainty of the very first Christmas – may our spirits rejoice as well. And so, we watch and wait for the One who gives us an ability to know JOY during difficult times.
prov.ca/advent-2023-joy
Watch and wait for the One who gives us an ability to know JOY during difficult times.
Like those who have gone before us, we recognize that through the hope we share and peace we enact in community, JOY can be known even in the midst of the most challenging circumstances.
JOY is more than just a feeling of satisfaction. There’s a spiritual dimension to rejoicing that has to more to do with our focus on a particular situation. In this way, JOY can be known even when we’re faced with something stressful or troublesome.
As it says in Romans 5, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.”
Christmas can indeed be JOY-filled, as we get caught up in the excitement of the season and reflect on all of the good things that we have. However, like in Bethlehem those many years ago, JOY is also about an outlook that gazes ahead to what is not yet. It’s an attitude that’s future-oriented, which doesn’t ignore what’s happening in the present.
With Mary – during the uncertainty of the very first Christmas – may our spirits rejoice as well. And so, we watch and wait for the One who gives us an ability to know JOY during difficult times.
prov.ca/advent-2023-joy
