Being joyful in difficult times

We are in a “joyous” time of the year yet for many it is a time of great stress and doubt. A time when the struggles in relationships seem to become more pronounced. A time when expectations are high and not always met, a time of family and celebration but for some it is a time of pronounced loneliness.

During this joyous time, it is also a time when those we are missing can be felt the strongest. Partly because of the joy that was felt during those times and the memory of loved filled moments comes to light but seem to be fleeting or taunting at times. As painful as this can be, these memories, they can also be helpful to us as we hope to move forward.

Too often when we are in the middle of the a dark time in our lives we forget about the joy that we had and think that we will never experience again. But we focus on the joyous event or a particular person. Each of these is fleeting, a breath in the wind, but the promises of God are different. They are eternal because God is eternal. They are not rooted in what is finite but the eternal. God’s promises as we have seen in Holy Scripture have been made and fulfilled. The people have realized God’s hand at work.

For us it is the living memory being passed from generation to generation. Not just of past promises being fulfilled but also to be able to see promises being fulfilled in our lives and the lives of those around us. When we have hope we will be able to see God because we will have the eyes to see, and the heart to receive because our joy is rooted in God not in situations or people. Our root is needs to run deep into God through Jesus so that we will be strong enough to over come the despair that is knocking at people’s hearts. To trust God who was faithful in the past, today, and we can trust will be faithful tomorrow. Remind each other of this truth.