#142: Advent: Joy

Joy is at the heart of Christ. And yet, joy is the noun I struggle with most. 

Joy causes a hitch in my throat that says, “But wait; what about all the hurt and sadness and violence?”

Joy feels irrelevant or off-key or out of step in a world where:

• Human trafficking and slavery exist
• Women in the workplace face a wage disparity
• Racism flourishes
• Without provocation, one country attacks another country, and the world condemns with words, sends money, but doesn’t intervene.

Joy feels like stand-up comedy at a funeral. And yet, despite all our hang-ups about joy, joy is inextricably tied to the birth of Jesus Christ.

• “We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘God cares more about your character than your happiness,’ as if an infinite God doesn’t have the capacity to care about both simultaneously. - Jill E. McCormick
• “Perhaps joy is so hard for us to receive and understand because it is what Jesus wants for us, AND what our enemy works hardest to steal. ” - Jill E. McCormick
• “Joy is defiant resistance.” - Jill E. McCormick
• “Joy is the rebellious act of remembering that God is with us – even here – in the presence of pain and the desperation of suffering.” - Jill E. McCormick
• “Joy is Jesus. And joy has come.” - Jill E. McCormick

• #125: Combatting shame with grace with Becky Leach
• #128: The grace of joy with Kimberly Davis
• Detoured by Jen Babakhan
• Mythical Me by Richella Parham
• What’s Here Now? by Jeanne Stevens
• Grace In Real Life book giveaway
• #81: Get Unstuck: Your identity with Jen Babakhan
• #129: God, grace + emotions: Radical grace for your distracted, swirling brain with Jeanne Stevens
• #127: God, grace + emotions: Practical grace when you feel not enough with Richella Parham

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