“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” John 15:11
Simeon, a righteous and devout servant of the Lord, was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come rescue Israel. the Bible says: “the Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to Him that he wold not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2:25-26).
Anna, a prophet and widow who had devoted herself to serving the Lord, was in the temple when the Holy Spirit led Simeon to meet the Messiah in the temple. The Bible says: “that she talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
Imagine how those 9 months of pregnancy must have been to those that knew. Imagine that expectancy. Surely, it was the most joyful and greatest waiting that the world ever witnessed as they saw that belly grow and as they felt that little body moving over the skin. Imagine the excitement of knowing there was only one more week for the savior to be born, to see his face, to kiss him and to see hope come alive and with your own arms be able to physically embrace that hope like you never could imagine before.
Those 9 months filled this world with a joy never known before. And the imagination of what that last week of pregnancy must have been for those who were present and expecting our savior to be born, can teach us how to live with that same joy.
A joy that has passed on generation through generation, across nations through faith and belief in Jesus and through the Holy Spirit as we also wait in the return of our Lord.
Do you find joy in knowing you will soon be with him forever? Do find joy in knowing your savior will soon return and be with you? Can you imagine what that would be like? Can you imagine what seeing him, kissing him, and physically being in his arms would be like?
The valleys of life, the sadness of the world could never take away that kind of joy, my friend. The joy that comes from delighting in Jesus and waiting on Him can be experienced at all times, because that joy relies on an ever-present person and a personal assurance and not on circumstances. That expectant joy is what sustained Mary, Joseph and all others through the waiting amidst tough times.
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18
Yes, even though.
Even still and in spite of, I will rejoice!
My king is coming soon. The promise will fulfill soon. What has been said, I’m about to see come to life. All the suffering in this world will soon end and righteousness will come.
There is no other waiting, capable of holding hands so tightly with joy as waiting in His coming.
“Ah, I hear my lover coming! He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.” Songs 2:8
Can you also hear his words? Do you hear him coming?
In this Gaudete Sunday, as we wait one more week to celebrate the happiest and most joyful day of history, the invitation is to Rejoice!
He is so close that you can hear Him.
In stillness, in steadiness, in the silence of your day and in a silent night, you can hear him.
Hear him and dive into his words.
He is almost here. Soon, we will see Him.
Rejoice!
