Joy to the world

 Joy to the world is one of my favourite Christmas carols.  You cant help but smile as you sing it and the words and tune blend perfectly to deliver the joy it promises.   Christmas is supposed to be a joyful time, but of course for lots of us it isnt,  It's either super stressful, or unbearably sad, or very difficult.  This year might prove to be one of the most extraordinary Christmas in our lifetimes.  Pandemic pandemonium.  How to approach this advent season and re-capture the wonder and joy which we know its all about?



I suppose one of the bonuses of lockdown was that it gave us time to think.  And one of the many random thoughts that come to me over the summer was about worship and joy.

For some reason I think I have always approached worship with the thought that the end result, by and large, should be joy.   I have always found music and singing a joyful enterprise.  I love it.  I've always found that being thankful has focused me on the happy things, and that drawing close to Jesus has brought peace and calm and sweetness to my spirit.   I have thought about praise and worship as being a source of joy.  But recently Ive begun to see that joy is actually the source of worship,

The moment of revelation came to me when all five of us were in the car going somewhere just after lockdown had eased.  Sam was home from Uni for the 4 months of lockdown and summer holidays, Keith was working from home and so the whole family was together for several months.  On this particular day we were all going somewhere or other and Sam put his playlist on the car speaker system and turned it up full blast.  Witney Houston singing I Have Nothing.  All of a sudden three teenage lads were singing at the tops of their voices, giving it all the Witney trills and flourishes, Keith joined in and it was the funniest, maddest thing.  For a few minutes my heart was filled with joy.  I could feel it - something in the middle of my being was just welling up and spilling over as I listened to my crazy family having a moment of unbridled musical madness together.  This happens from time to time with the Hamiltons - Sam has a particularly brilliant taste in music and his playlist usually ends up in a singalong.  But this time I suddenly found myself in worship.  My overflowing soul suddenly soared upwards and as I was driving and listening and laughing I turned to God and thanked Him with all my heart for the gift of this mad family, for music, for laughter, for singing and technology and even for the lockdown which had allowed us that specific moment.

Later as I processed that moment I felt a bit of a revelation happening.  It was as though I was seeing something with new eyes - that God gives us moments of joy all the time.  And that every joyful moment is an opportunity for worship,  In fact, I think that the joy we experience might actually BE worship. I decided that I was going to try to consciously capture the joyful times and turn them into worship times.  

Ive been blessed this year, very unexpectedly, with small people.  Over lockdown I offered to do a bit of childminding for two families who have kids ranging in age from 1 to 7 years.  I'd forgotten how cute and funny little people can be.  They have been the source of a few properly joyful moments over these dire and dreadful months.  A couple of weeks ago a 4 yr old and a 7 yr old were having a conversation about Santa in my kitchen.  Hilarious.  And then watching the 1 year old take his first steps. Priceless.  Instead of just enjoying these moments and moving on, Ive been making a conscious effort to turn to Jesus and say ' Thank You'.  Maybe you have been doing that for years.  I might have done it occasionally I suppose, with a spectacular sunset or something, but now Ive realised that my worship can have yet another expression and that even the smallest thing that makes me smile or laugh is an opportunity to acknowledge Jesus.   I firmly believe God has the best sense of humour in the universe .  I fully expect that heaven sounds like laughter.  I need more joy in my life.  Im pretty sure we all do, especially now.

So this peculiar and afflicted advent my challenge to you is to find a moment of joy in every day.  Even if its just a cartoon in the paper or a silly facebook post. ( like this one - please do watch this, it will definitely make you laugh   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbsZohEMn38    )  Whatever makes you smile today, laugh tomorrow, feel gratitude this week  let's determine to embrace the sweetness of the moment and then turn it to God with praise and thankfulness.  For in joy we find strength




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