Where’s the wonder? Where’s the joy?
We hear the same story again and again each year from a multitude of people and places.
From sermons, to devotionals, to blog posts. They all attempt a new approach, a different perspective.
But our familiarity with the story can induce indifference if we’re not careful. We’ve heard it so many times that we don’t pay much attention to it any more. We let it go over our heads, not even “in one ear and out the other.” And we lose the wonder of Christmas, the Reason for the season. The joy!
I remember when I was little. I thought I would explode with excitement as I waited for Christmas morning. Yes, when you’re little, it’s all about the gifts.
But when one gets older, what happens to the wonder, the joy? Not for gifts but for the greatest Gift!
Can we borrow that childlike anticipation and wonder, that excitement and joy, for just a moment and wrap ourselves in it?
Then, let’s put ourselves in the midst of the wonder and joy of that most glorious night in all of history.
What is in your heart? Do you share the same wonder and joy as Mary and Joseph?
Maybe the season’s commercialism or a busy schedule or loneliness has drained joy from you. Maybe grief and sadness have stolen it from you.
Actually, it’s still there. You may not feel joy but it’s there, hiding under all those circumstances. The Lord’s Joy. It’s there. And it is your strength. Nehemiah said, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10 NASB)
The joy the Lord gives transcends earth’s offerings. That Joy? No man, no heartache, no poverty, no circumstance can truly take it from you. For it’s still there. Just blanketed with circumstances.
Trust that it’s there. Uncover and lift up your joy above your circumstances. A joyful heart is the best weapon against all the negativity of life.
Sometimes, that joy does is not evident, for joy is not always outward exuberance. It may just be a deep knowing, a fulfilled satisfaction, a thankful response to the Lord’s faithfulness.
Your life right now may be toilsome, but joy is your reward. The reward of seeing the Lord in the dull, dark days, of trusting Him when all about you is chaotic.
If you’ve lost your joy, you can find it again this special season. It’s right where you left it.
Oh, to know the wonder of that holy night. To follow the Light, to find the Babe of Bethlehem.
Lord, take me to those fields filled with Your glory. Draw back the black curtain of my night and spill out the glory of Your heaven.
Lead me to that humble manger that I may learn to make my heart a humble manger-place for You. Reveal my life’s emptiness and fill it with the same joy of heaven that filled that night’s air. Guide me always by the Light of Your Life.
Give me willing knees to crouch before You in lowly reverence and awe. Give me listening ears to hear the rush of angels’ wings, to hear their glorious hallelujahs and the holiness of their worship.
Oh, that my heart would always be filled with the glory and wonder of that precious night.*
May your heart be filled with the wonder and joy of this most holy and glorious Christmas…Lynn
*Searching for Bethlehem’s Babe