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There's a particular kind of joy that we're told

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we're supposed to have at Christmas. It's cheerful,

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it's well decorated, and it has cookies, which

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apparently I'm supposed to be careful about the

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chocolate covered bourbon balls. Just supposed

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to have one a day. We'll see how that works.

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It somehow requires energy at Christmas time

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that we do not currently possess. And if we're

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honest, many of us come into the season already

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tired. You know, we're tired before the lights

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go up. We're tired before the first carol plays.

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We are tired before someone cheerfully says,

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can you believe it's almost Christmas? Hush up.

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And some of us, we nod politely. Some of us nod

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impolitely. Some of us smile. Some of us quietly

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wonder if it is acceptable to take a nap until

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January. Into that reality, Scripture gives us

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a strange pairing today. A desert in bloom and

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a prophet in prison. Isaiah sings about joy.

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John the Baptist asks if joy has missed him entirely.

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And somehow right there in between, Jesus shows

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us what real joy actually is. The wilderness

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and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall

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rejoice and blossom. Isaiah starts with joy,

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but not the kind you buy in Isle 7. This joy

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is spoken over places that look nothing like

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joy. Wilderness, dry land, desert. Isaiah does

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not say once the desert blooms, then it will

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rejoice. He says, it shall rejoice. God speaks

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joy over barrenness before anything changes.

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And that matters. Because joy does not begin

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with circumstances improving. It begins with

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God naming what is possible. Now hold that next

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to John the Baptist. John is not in the wilderness

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anymore. He's in prison. The man who once baptized

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crowds and thundered truth is now sending a message

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from a cell. Are you the one who is to come or

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should we wait? for another. Yikes, John. This

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is not a trick question, though. It's a tired

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question. It's the question of someone who thought

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that joy would look different by now. And if

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we're honest, Christmas can feel like that. We

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expect warmth, but we feel lonely. We expect

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peace, but family gatherings feel like obstacle

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courses. We expect joy, but all we feel is a

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vague sense of pressure. Like joy is late and

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we just keep checking our watch. Joy at first?

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Well, it's not really a feeling, but rather a

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longing. It's the quiet belief that the desert

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is not the final chapter. Sometimes joy begins

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with nothing more than just the thought, maybe

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God. is not finished yet. Strengthen the weak

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hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to

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those who are of a fearful heart, Be strong,

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do not fear. Before Isaiah talks about singing,

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he talks about trembling. Before joy erupts,

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God addresses exhaustion. But this is good news.

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Because many of us We don't need or want cheer.

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We need support. We do not need someone to tell

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us to smile more. We need someone to say, I see

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how tired you are, but don't point out the bags.

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John the Baptist does not receive a rebuke from

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Jesus. Jesus does not say, come on John, where's

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your faith? Jesus answers gently. He sends reassurance.

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And then in front of the crowd, Jesus honors

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John. Among those born of women, no one has arisen

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greater than John the Baptist. Even in his doubt,

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John is not discarded. He is still part of God's

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story. often asks us to be strong when we're

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already worn down. We carry responsibilities,

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grief, expectations, and sometimes a little too

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much credit card debt. All while humming carols.

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Joy in this moment is not laughter. Joy is God

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steadying, shaking hands. Joy is God saying,

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you're not failing, you're human. Sometimes joy

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feels like being held up rather than lifted away.

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Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and

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the ears of the deaf unstopped. Isaiah says,

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then, not immediately, but surely. Joy becomes

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visible in restoration. When Jesus answers John's

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question, He's not trying to go into some theological

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essay to make sure that he remembers all of the

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prophecies in every other piece. He points. The

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blind receive their sight. The lame walk. The

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lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead

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are raised. The poor have good news brought to

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them. In other words, John, look around. This

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is what joy is supposed to look like. It's not

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sparkly, it's not perfect. It's redemption. Christmas

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often tempts us to believe that joy must feel

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magical, but Scripture tells us that joy often

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looks ordinary and miraculous at the same time.

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A relationship slowly healing. A burden shared.

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a body cared for, a soul remembering it is loved.

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See, real joy is not found in flawless moments.

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We don't flip to the Hallmark Channel to find

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it. It is found where something broken is being

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made whole. If you are looking for joy this season,

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look for places where love is repairing what

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life has worn down. That's where Christ is. Waters

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shall break forth in the wilderness, streams

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in the desert, the burning sand shall become

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a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water."

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Isaiah's language suddenly becomes extravagant.

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He is no longer talking about survival, just

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getting by. He is talking about abundance, overflowing.

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The desert does not just get a water bottle and

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a shade umbrella. It turns into a landscape with

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springs. This is important because many of us

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secretly believe God's goal is just to help us

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barely make it. We imagine faith as learning

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to manage disappointment with better manners.

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But Isaiah insists that when God shows up, God

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doesn't ration out life. He overflows with it

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for us. Now put that next to John the Baptist,

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the one who has struggled in preaching that the

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captives will be freed, the one who is wondering

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what is going on. But you see, John expected

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fire. He preached fire. He announced an axe at

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the root of the tree, and he imagined the Messiah

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arriving with judgment and clarity and swift

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resolution, and instead... Jesus shows up healing

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people, forgiving sinners, eating with the wrong

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crowd, telling stories that take a while to make

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sense. I know how that goes. In other words,

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Jesus does not meet John's expectations, rather

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He exceeds Isaiah's promises. And this is where

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many of us get stuck at Christmas. We pray For

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one thing, and God gives another. We expect joy

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to arrive as relief, and God brings transformation

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into our lives. We expect joy to mean everything

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gets easier, and instead, God brings depth to

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us instead. Sometimes our disappointment is not

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that God failed to act. It's that God acted differently

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than we imagined. But here's what's hidden in

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the truth. Many of us treat God like a customer

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service department at Kohl's where the line is

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way too long. When all we wanted to do was come

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in and take back the present we didn't want and

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get what we did. You see, we submit our request

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and we wait for the exact outcome that we selected.

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When it does not arrive, we assume something

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must have gone wrong. But y 'all, God is not

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Amazon Prime. He doesn't offer a free video subscription.

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He doesn't do overnight shipping once you pay

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over 25 bucks. He does not end up taking spiritual

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formation and turning it into a commodity. Thank

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God for that. Because what He is delivering is

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heavier than we could carry all at once. Joy

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begins to overflow when we release our tight

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grip on expectations and open our hands to the

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surprise of joy. Because real joy is discovering

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that God's mercy is wider than our categories,

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and His generosity is deeper than our plans.

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A highway shall be there, and it shall be called

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the Holy Way. The ransomed of the Lord shall

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return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting

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joy shall be upon their heads. Isaiah ends not

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with a party, but with a road. That detail matters.

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Parties are fun. But are those the things that

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last? Are those the things that get us anywhere?

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Roads, they're not moments in time. They're journeys.

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They require walking, travel. They imply time,

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direction, companionship. No one ever expects

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to get to Florida in half an hour. This is not

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joy as some emotional high. This is joy as direction

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and orienting ourselves. There is a way through

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the wilderness now. There's a way forward that

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does not depend on getting lost and hoping that

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maybe you find yourself on accident. John the

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Baptist, He prepared the way, but He does not

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walk it fully. We know that His time was cut

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short, but that does not mean that the way He

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prepared was wrong. See, He stands at the threshold,

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but Jesus Himself is the way itself. John's life

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reminds us that even faithful people do not always

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experience the fullness of joy that they point

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toward. Not everyone who proclaims the joy of

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the Lord always gets to feel it in its fullness.

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That's not failure. That's calling. Some of us,

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we're still in the preparing stage of joy. We

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believe it's coming, even if we cannot feel it

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just yet. Christmas tempts us to think that joy

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should arrive all at once, preferably on a schedule

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somewhere between the first present on December

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24th and the rest of them on December 25th, wrapped

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neatly with the right bow. But Isaiah gives us

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something more honest. Joy does not arrive as

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a single experience. It's a direction. It's a

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process. It's a path. Notice what disappears

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at the end of the passage. Sorrow and groaning

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are fleeing. They don't disappear and evaporate

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immediately. But rather, they lose their authority.

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They lose their control. Joy does not mean that

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you're never going to groan again. Joy means

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that the groaning no longer defines where your

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life is headed. everlasting joy rests on our

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heads. Not because life is easy, but because

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God is faithful. So if you leave this season

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tired, still grieving, still unsure, that does

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not mean that joy has failed. It may mean you're

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just on a different part of the road. And if

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you're walking that road with Christ, even slowly,

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even imperfectly, then joy is not behind you.

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It's beneath your feet. So John waits in prison.

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Israel waits in the wilderness. And so many of

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us wait in our own ways. And joy is still coming.

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Not as we deny the pain. Not as we force the

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cheer. But as Christ entering the desert, the

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prison, the waiting with us, and saying to us,

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with me because real joy it's not something we

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manufacture it is someone who meets us on the

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road leads us home and that joy quietly and faithfully

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is already on the way thanks be to God