You Were MADE For Joy

The holiday season seems to bring out the best and worst in people. It seems to be a very high-strung season with lots of stress culminating from shopping, traveling, and spending time with family (yes, that can be stressful too!). Last year, I did NOT cope well with the holidays. I had to tell myself to just chill out. I was trying to be a Perfect Pinterest Mom and my unofficial Holiday Bucket List was too long for me to cope with. (This is why I never do holiday bucket lists - they stress me out!)

How so many of you lovely ladies are doing different daily activities for Advent with your families boggles my mind and stresses me out, even though I'm not doing it! I think it's wonderful and can bring a family together...but it's just not for me. I'm more of a "go with the flow" kind of girl when it comes to bucket lists. I have items on my imaginary list...but I do them at my own pace and have learned not to freak out if it doesn't get done.

On Sunday at church, our pastor gave a wonderful sermon about joy. And I have to share it with you. In light of everything that happened last week in Connecticut, remember that you were made for joy.

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"The good news is that God made you for joy.

God didn’t make you to fret and worry and think dark thoughts. God did not make you for fear. God made you for peace and love and light and joy and laughter.

You were made for joy!

This may seem like strange news in our world where we suffer tragic – sometimes senseless – events – but it is still the news I want to bring you today – and every day.

God didn’t make you to fret and worry and think dark thoughts. God did not make you for fear. God made you for peace and love and light and joy and laughter.

You were made for joy!


You know — Paul understood the good news that we are created for joy. He writes in the passage before us today from Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

You may hear these words and want to respond:

Rejoice?
Really?
Are you kidding me?
For what reason?
Does Paul have any idea of what’s going on in our lives and in our world?
Rejoice – always? 
   
As unrealistic as Paul’s advice may have seemed to the Philippians, just think how unrealistic it may have sounded coming from someone in Paul’s situation. When Paul wrote these words he was in prison and was, in effect, on death row. He was literally chained to a Roman soldier and guarded day and night, awaiting his execution. And yet he could write:

 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Do not be anxious about anything

You know — it takes a special kind of faith to proclaim joy in dire circumstances. It takes the kind of faith that comes from living in the center of God’s will and love.
You and I were made for such faith and for such joy.

God didn’t make you to fret and worry and think dark thoughts. God did not make you for fear. God made you for peace and love and light and joy and laughter.

So – maybe we need to look at what keeps us from rejoicing all the time and under every circumstance.

What is it that robs you of your joy?
Does news of senseless killings steal your joy?

The news of senseless killings can make us feel sad for those affected and even afraid about our own lives. Senseless killings can kill your joy and even make you to wonder about God’s presence and God’s care for you. When you see pictures of scared children leaving a school that has turned into a horror scene you might begin to question God, and lose all sense of joy.

Another thing that can rob you of your joy is fear for what might happen in your life.

Are you worried about your life?

Maybe you are one of those people who worry over things in life. Maybe you tend to fret over minor things. Maybe it is the little things that tie you up in knots, little things that are easily fixable with time but will worry you until then.

Some people lose their joy because they are continually comparing their lives with others, and they don’t focus on their blessings but on what others have that they don’t have.            
Do you remember the first thing that the angel said to the shepherds watching over their flocks that first Christmas night? The first thing the angel said to them was:

 “Fear not.”

That’s an important word for us as we approach this year’s celebration of Christmas and try to deal with senseless tragedies in the world. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid of the violence. Don’t be afraid of the future with its uncertainties. God is with you in all situations, and God holds the future in His Almighty hands. God will not let you down. And don’t be afraid that somehow your life doesn’t measure up. God loves you just as you are.
           
The second thing the angel said was, “For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy . . .” 

Christmas was never intended to be a season of anxiety, but a season of joy.
Christians were never meant to live lives of anxiety, but lives of joy. 
God didn’t make you to fret and worry and think dark thoughts. God did not make you for fear. God made you for peace and love and light and joy and laughter.

You were made for joy! 

That’s why Paul’s words from Philippians are so appropriate for the third Sunday of Advent, and this weekend when we mourn with the people in Connecticut:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Here is the reason you can have light and hope and joy: A Savior has been born.

Friends – particularly during this Advent and Christmas season, we need to rejoice. Don’t worry about your future this Advent season. God is in control of that.  

Don’t worry about disappointing your family or your friends. Find simple ways to let them know you love them. That is the greatest gift you can give them.  That is the gift God gave us in the stable of Bethlehem.

Here – now – rejoice!
All the time.
Under every circumstance.
Always.
Rejoice."

[Source]

"Futurist Faith Popcorn says that one possible downside of the Internet is the development of what she calls Comparative Anxiety. She says the Internet has created a networked world that allows everybody to compare everything --- instantly.

• How much money are you making compared to people your own age who graduated from the same college you did?
• How many words does your baby know versus millions of babies her exact age, around the world?

She predicts that this ability to benchmark yourself in seconds with others will create an increasing epidemic of comparative anxiety a national wave of insecurity.

Is that what is robbing you of your joy comparing yourself with others?"

[Source]
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Isn't that so true for us as bloggers and blog readers? How often do you let yourself fall victim to this "comparative anxiety"? Let us not get caught up in the anxiety that this time of year can bring. Don't worry. Cast your anxiety on to Him.

I know this blog post isn't all my words, but I didn't know how else to word it or summarize it...it was written perfectly as it was. You were made for joy. REJOICE!