Last night I had a dream in which I was reunited with my childhood best friend. Sam and I were inseparable for years, only to lose touch in high school. Sam tragically died in a car accident my junior year.
I can remember in my dream how great a joy it was to see him again. To talk to him, and see how he had been. He didn’t talk much, but smiled a lot. And even in my dream, he looked different, almost radiant.
This week is the week of joy in the advent season. So often though, Christmas rings forth the opposite of joy in our lives. I think Satan works extra hard this season to steal away our joy. In a time of the year that Christians should be most joyful, the evil one is putting in overtime to expose the pain and reality of our broken world.
Why is it that we believe the lies of Satan? As Christians our joy comes from the Lord, and the promise of our future with him. The joy I experienced in my dream is just a hint of the joy we will experience in heaven. We will be reunited with all those loved ones that have gone before us, and united for eternity with Jesus Christ.
Jesus taught that we can have the kingdom of God now. Eternity, and the joys held within, can be experienced now. Sure, the brokenness and pain our this world will be present until this age is done away this, but the kingdom of God is present even still, and we can find joy in this truth, a joy that is greater than any of our pain or suffering.
No matter where you are this Christmas season, whether this is a time of pain, or a time of celebration, remember that true joy is found in the babe in a manger. This joy can be experience now through a relationship with Christ, and will be experience in a fullness that we can only hypothesize about in heaven. Thanks be to God, the bringer of true joy!
