Loving My Actual Christmas: An Advent Devotional By Alexandra KuykendallSample

Advent Week Three: Joy

When I hear the word joy this time of year, the song “Joy to the world, the Lord has come” starts to play in my head. This familiar Christmas carol is the one where the horns come out. Where you almost shout the words because it is a proclamation that something has just happened. But are we approaching this season like a celebration full of laughter?

Perhaps the stress of our schedule, or the circumstances of what this Christmas looks like in comparison to our expectations, is getting in our way. But joy is found in a deeper place than happiness. So how does one add joy to a season that may feel painful? 

I know I can’t force feelings to come on their own, but I can do my part to create an environment that works toward them. I can do my best to set the table figuratively for joy, and literally for people to gather and celebrate. 

The fact that this week follows love is fitting. In the book of John, Jesus tells his disciples to remain in his love and to love one another. Sandwiched between those two commands he says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). It turns out joy is centered in accepting God’s love and then turning around and loving others. In this context of giving and receiving love, joy is grown. 

Jesus continues, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20). If ever there was a message of hope for the lonely and the brokenhearted this Christmas, it’s this. While the rest of the world seems to be throwing a party that we can’t embrace or get behind because of the hurt of our life, Jesus promises it won’t always be so. It’s this intentionality of naming our expectations combined with the intentionality of abiding in God’s love and loving those around me that produces a sense of deep-seated pleasure—joy. I may not automatically feel it, but knowing the promise that it’s on the way is a first step. 

How does the pain in your life this Christmas point to the larger story of God turning your grief to joy?