Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:4) One of my favorite scriptures because it promises joy. After weeping comes joy. There is so much weeping these days, but finally the joy candle is glowing! Joy is different from peace. It is even different than the hope of joy. One is anticipated in the future, the other is now.

To me, nothing portrays joy better than the birth of a baby. So much waiting. So much pain and labor. Then all is joy. The little face erases the agony of a few moments before. The little noises. The squirming. Even the crying, brings joy. Once the laughter and cooing starts in a few days, the heavens open up and joy flows like Niagara falls. So much of it in one place, it is surreal. Once you have experienced it, you will never forget it.

During advent, we long for this joy. Really, we long for it all the time. We might look for it in the world around us, but we won’t find it there. It is that baby, in the manger who invented it, and shares it still! What a beautiful gift!

My joy is something you will never get over. It bubbles up. It overflows. It is something you crave, and I am happy to fill the yearning. Baby laughter is the personification of joy. Of course, that baby turned out to be the personification of all of me, but my joy is the gift which lights up the heart. It fills you with warmth. It is what the enemy most wants to keep from you. If you are in a hard place, seek me. I will fill you with my joy, even in the midst of hardship. It is my joy to do so.