Motivation Monday - Why You Can Carry Joy In Small Spaces
“This Advent season, may you embrace joy, the contradiction to what you would expect in this world of grief, because He who came as a baby planted the seed of joy’s origin in you, who bears His image.”
This third week of Advent, the noise is getting louder. There are ads on TV, invading your social media as you scroll, popping up on Facebook, and interrupting your radio listening, insisting that Christmas will not be worth celebrating unless you buy what they are selling.
You can be fooled into listening to the loudest and most insistent voices. There are voices that insist:
your gatherings must be grand, must include all of your loved ones, perfectly orchestrated with their plans synced to yours,
your worship must include choirs and orchestras,
and the miracle of Christmas will surely bring with it an end to this pandemic craziness
…in order to feel any shred of joy.
Luke 2 narrates a different story. It is a story that tells us the biggest miracle came from the smallest of towns. The most ordinary people: Joseph a carpenter, Mary a virgin, and lowly shepherds, became extra-ordinary carriers of the news of the Son of God Himself. The glorious angel song that flooded every square inch of heaven could not be heard by most on earth outside the lit manger. And, really, the biggest awaited news was kept secret by magi who went back to their land without a word. And yet for the few on earth plus the angels, ‘they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.’
You might be feeling too small to be significant in this very moment. You feel unnoticed and not part of anything of real importance going on. You may feel invisible, perhaps separated from loved ones, or compared with those with large followings and platforms. You may feel that all the hope you carry for even a little miracle is nowhere to be seen on the horizon. It’s just been that kind of a year.
Read Luke 2 and find yourself in the story.
God brings big things, and great joy, out of small places.
God uses the inconspicuous to write His epic story.
God uses the world’s problems to showcase His Promise.
He will bring great joy out of your small obedience.
He will use your life, right where you are, to complete His purpose and your destiny.
He will continue to fulfill His promises to you in the midst of a world filled with despair,
because that is when you are looking for Him the most.
He will give you joy in the midst of your grief.
Joy is the thread weaving under the miracle of Jesus’ birth.
There is a beautiful stanza written by William Blake:
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
This Advent season, may you embrace joy,
the contradiction to what you would expect in this world of grief,
because He who came as a baby planted the seed of joy’s origin in you,
who bears His image.
I believe in you!
Cathie