Joy

At Christmas, the one thing you cannot be without is Joy. I've been thinking a lot about joy this week. Joy is something I have always had, always cherished, and never want to be without. Joy for living, joy for loving, joy for having faith, joy to spread to those around me. For me, it is as essential as bread and water. But this week I have found myself in moments that are utterly without joy. I have asked myself this week why the Lord would allow us such sadness as to leave us without this inner peace and happiness we call joy. This week I have found myself blurring my weepy eyes toward the Christmas tree that brightens our living room and our whole house, wondering outloud how I can anticipate Christmas this year in a state of joylessness. I have prayed on it this week, that God would grant me joy amid sadness. I have wavered in and out of hope and hopelessness. But as the week wears on and I prepare to start a new one, I feel quite unmistakably that the Lord knows me and knows what I need right now. He knows that only the joy He gives will get me through this time, and get me to Christmas, a time of rejoicing for the whole world. I have asked "how can I rejoice in His birth this month"? But He has answered my prayer and given me so much joy this day. I am so thankful.