No One Will Take Away Your Joy

John16:22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 

In the last devotional I shared the joy of being a parent on Christmas day. Seeing the looks of joy on the face of my kids is great.  It’s a feeling that is difficult to put into words. Maybe someday I will be skilled enough to express in words that special feeling. But for now, you have to be there to understand it.  The time of Advent and Christmas can be stressful. We run around completing our Christmas gift shopping stressed out. And we often encounter others who are just as stressed out as we are.  So we have stress, piled onto and colliding with more stress, and then there is a time constraint element and suddenly BAM! The joy is gone.

Our stress can come from trying to do too much. In our desire to not disappoint others we can over commit ourselves to the point where there is no joy.  If we look at the parts of our lives we try to share at Christmas there are the elements of time, talent, and treasure.  (Funny, that sounds like the three elements of tithing.)  Time is a critical factor for most of us. And the other elements end up impacting the time element so there is an additive stress factor.  When we look at the element of time, we have a limited quantity around Advent and Christmas. We have work, our home to take care of, and family needs. Then we pile on the invitations to parties and gatherings during Advent and Christmas. We also have Advent services on Wednesday nights, kids and grandkids Christmas concerts, plays, recitals, etc. In between all that, there is Christmas shopping. Although for some of us that is limited to just one day of shopping (Christmas Eve.) As for me, I am thankful this year for online shopping. Amazon is amazing! (Insert standard disclaimer of not endorsing any one particular online vendor or service…)  :-)

Talent is that part of our self we offer to our Lord, our family, and friends which shares a spiritual gift we have been blessed with.  The talent of music, crafting, cooking, etc. are typically in high demand. We do not want to disappoint anyone, and we often try to please everyone.  That is unfortunately the opening needed for joy to escape.  We serve others out of love.  And we must try to not allow the acts of service turn to an unpleasant sense of doing it because we feel we are obligated to do so.  Once more the joy escapes from Christmas when balance is lost.

The element of treasure is one that has short and long term impacts.  How often do we try to do too much with what we have.  The old saying of robbing Peter to pay Paul applies for many in the Christmas gift buying.  There is a trap carefully laid by Satan in the form of gift buying and giving.  The trap is in the sense of worth we place on the gifts we give to others.  We are led to believe that if the gift is not expensive enough, big enough, or wrapped perfectly then the receiver will not fully appreciate our expression of love. To that end the spending on gifts can get out of hand.  And when the immediate cash is not there, out comes the plastic.  I am disheartened at seeing people swipe the credit card, to pay for a shopping cart full of gifts, only to find the card is maxed out. And no worries, out comes a second card. If you have seen this, you know what I mean. If you have been the one doing the swiping I would offer that you should prayerfully reconsider what you are doing.  The bill will come due, the monies will have to be given out ultimately and that leaves you with a sense of regret while you are paying the monthly installments on the cards. It can kill the joy not just at Christmas, but long after the Christmas tree is put away.

What are we to do?  Pray is always a good first step. Please, take my advice and do not wait to pray until you have exhausted all other options.  I can tell you from my personal experience that pray early and often is a much better approach than prayer as a last resort.  I have been a slow learner with that one.  Pray for guidance, pray for direction, pray for discernment.  But most of all pray that God our Father will reveal His will for you.  Ask for what He would like you to do.  You cannot please everyone. And no one wants you to have the joy of Advent and Christmas destroyed by trying to do too much.  I would offer the greatest gift you and I can share with our family and friends is the gift of Jesus. If we start there we have an opportunity to share what we ourselves cherish the most.  In John 16:22 Jesus reminds us He will see us again, and we will rejoice at that time. Jesus also assures us that no one will take away our joy when we are with Him. That bit of wisdom is the greatest gift to share with others at Christmas.

PRAYER: Blessed Lord, our lives during Advent and Christmas often become hectic. We fill our time with distractions. Often we do this at the expense of the time we come to You in prayer. We lose sight of what is really important in search of the temporary.  Help us Dear Lord. Guide us in Your light. Let Your Holy Spirit fill us with the faith to stay on track. Let us not lose sight of what Christmas is really all about and not the parties and gifts. We ask that Your Son be first and foremost in our hearts. We ask this in His name, Amen.