JOY- Advent Week 2
Week 2
Joy
Is anyone else struggling this week? For some reason, things just seem harder and heavier to me. I try to see the positive in most things and throughout the craziness of this year I have been counting my blessings and trying to stay grateful through it all. This week, that has been put to the test more times than I can count.
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Joy can be a difficult concept for many. I know over the years I have struggled with it and the more I lean in to the Lord in times of hardship, the more He has taught me that our joy isn’t dependent on curating a feeling or an emotion. Joy is a bi-product of trust.
Luke 1:26-38, 46 & 47
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Mary was in a season that many young women find themselves. She was engaged! She was going to marry the man of her dreams, settle down and then I’m sure start a family and be an amazing wife and mom. She was planning her wedding and being an obedient and faithful daughter in her home as she awaited her marriage. She was young. She had her whole life ahead of her and she had nothing to fear or worry about! Out of nowhere an angel of the Lord appears and you know the rest…the trajectory of her life changes FOREVER. I’m certain there was fear, questioning and a heaviness in that moment that she couldn’t even articulate. How would she explain it, how would she survive the onset of bad looks, whispering behind her back and the gossip that would ensue? What Mary does in response to the Lord’s plan for her life is truly remarkable. She responds with her full trust.
Perhaps one of the keys of having joy in our life is our obedience and submission/surrender to God’s will, not our own. The joy that came, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” was something that can only come from a submission of will. As Robbie taught this weekend, Mary’s faith was weighty. She knew that God’s love for her was secure and his plan was sovereign even though she did not understand it. No matter what was ahead, she could live secure knowing that He is at the helm and He has a plan. Details were up to Him.
What part of your life are you just completely not willing to budge on with the Lord? Joy comes when we release our need to control it all. Freedom comes when we align our minds and our hearts with the truth. The truth is that God is in control, He is faithful, He actually has your best in mind. When we surrender our will to his, I believe that is when true joy springs forth.
This season choose joy by choosing to quit fighting God on everything. Release your will to his and see what He does with that act of faith and obedience.
We place our HOPE in Christ alone and we receive a JOY that only He can provide.
Love and blessings to you all!
Shaina
Joy
Is anyone else struggling this week? For some reason, things just seem harder and heavier to me. I try to see the positive in most things and throughout the craziness of this year I have been counting my blessings and trying to stay grateful through it all. This week, that has been put to the test more times than I can count.
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Joy can be a difficult concept for many. I know over the years I have struggled with it and the more I lean in to the Lord in times of hardship, the more He has taught me that our joy isn’t dependent on curating a feeling or an emotion. Joy is a bi-product of trust.
Luke 1:26-38, 46 & 47
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Mary was in a season that many young women find themselves. She was engaged! She was going to marry the man of her dreams, settle down and then I’m sure start a family and be an amazing wife and mom. She was planning her wedding and being an obedient and faithful daughter in her home as she awaited her marriage. She was young. She had her whole life ahead of her and she had nothing to fear or worry about! Out of nowhere an angel of the Lord appears and you know the rest…the trajectory of her life changes FOREVER. I’m certain there was fear, questioning and a heaviness in that moment that she couldn’t even articulate. How would she explain it, how would she survive the onset of bad looks, whispering behind her back and the gossip that would ensue? What Mary does in response to the Lord’s plan for her life is truly remarkable. She responds with her full trust.
Perhaps one of the keys of having joy in our life is our obedience and submission/surrender to God’s will, not our own. The joy that came, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” was something that can only come from a submission of will. As Robbie taught this weekend, Mary’s faith was weighty. She knew that God’s love for her was secure and his plan was sovereign even though she did not understand it. No matter what was ahead, she could live secure knowing that He is at the helm and He has a plan. Details were up to Him.
What part of your life are you just completely not willing to budge on with the Lord? Joy comes when we release our need to control it all. Freedom comes when we align our minds and our hearts with the truth. The truth is that God is in control, He is faithful, He actually has your best in mind. When we surrender our will to his, I believe that is when true joy springs forth.
This season choose joy by choosing to quit fighting God on everything. Release your will to his and see what He does with that act of faith and obedience.
We place our HOPE in Christ alone and we receive a JOY that only He can provide.
Love and blessings to you all!
Shaina
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