By Leland Botzet

WE ALL FACE tests in life, on a regular basis.

While there are times when our hopes and dreams and desires are satisfied beyond our grandest expectations, it seems more often than not that we see our greatest hopes dissolve in the face of reality.

We are entering a time of year when we’ve all had such experiences.

The Christmas season brings with it high expectations. Yet the reality is that often children are disappointed with their presents, spouses can be frustrated with one another, and families can become disillusioned about their relationships with each other.

I remember as a young child growing up in a home without a father, where money was hard to come by – and facing the reality that my hopes for a particular Christmas present rarely came true.

A few years ago, at a Bible study I was leading in a prison, an inmate told me that every Christmas season he experienced a severe headache – a remnant of a severe beating and a fractured skull he received from a drunken father on Christmas morning.

At times, it is hard to see the hope of this season beyond the scars we’ve received in life.

The truth is that we live in a fallen and broken world. In the midst of the season where we proclaim “good will to all men,” we can feel tension as government leaders attack one another for political gain. We try to rejoice as we watch the price of fuel go down, yet we wonder if we’ll have the funds to even buy gas.

As we Christmas shop for the best prices, we also consider that we might need the money we spend for something more important later on. As the air becomes filled with the songs of holiday tradition, our ears hear reports of terrorism, war, atrocities and widespread violence.

It was because of such things that Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago. The times into which Christ was born were oppressive, violent and bloody. Life was hard, food was scarce, sickness and disease were rampant, and death was in the air. There was fear and pain and terror and uncertainty everywhere.

The prophets of God had spoken of a Saviour, a deliverer to come – yet the promise of that hope had gone unfulfilled for more than 400 years, and the dark days continued to get ever darker.

It was into this darkness that the light of Jesus was born. The world had grown hard and cynical, yet there was a breath of hope blowing through the hearts of the people of God.

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In the midst of misery and oppression, there rose up a sense that God was about to do something great and awesome and wonderful. In the midst of the darkness, a light of hope dawned. In the midst of despair, the promise of joy began to flicker. The Saviour, the deliverer, had come!

Yet many who had wanted that hope missed it.

On June 6, 1981, Doug Whitt and his new bride, Sylvia, were escorted into a hotel’s bridal suite in the wee hours of the morning. In the room, they saw a sofa, chairs and a table, but no bed. Then they discovered the sofa was a hide-a-bed, with a lumpy mattress and sagging springs. After a fitful night’s sleep, they woke up in the morning with sore backs. The new husband went to the hotel desk and gave the management a tongue-lashing.

“Did you open the door in the room?” asked the clerk.

Doug went back to the room. He opened the door they had thought was a closet. There, complete with fruit baskets and chocolates, was a beautiful bedroom.

We most often miss out on the true joy God has for us – because we are looking for it in the wrong places.

We often confuse happiness with joy. While happiness is a feeling, joy is something else. Joy is much deeper than happiness, and more than an attitude. Joy is a person. Joy is Jesus.

Jesus said we will have trouble in this world. The Christian life can often seem like a bad bed – good around the outside, but pretty lumpy in the middle. Yet we are told to rejoice in the midst of our struggles, and not lose hope.

D.L. Moody said: “Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night, as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. Joy is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; joy is a secret spring the world can’t see, and doesn’t know anything about.”

When the world gets turned upside down, when our sense of security and safety is broken, when we are worn out and tired and standing out on the edge of life – it is then we are finally ready for God to turn things right side up again, ready to let him be our security and safety.

It is then that we are ready to be strengthened and saved and delivered – from our struggles with life, with others and with ourselves. It is then we are ready to put our hope in God by finding our joy in Jesus.

Wherever you might be in life, regardless of how desperate or overwhelming or discouraging your circumstances or situation might be, a joyful hope awaits you in God through Jesus Christ.

On the night Jesus was born, the angel declared: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

Jesus has come. He has come to be our hope, and our joy!

Adapted from a message preached December 7, 2008 and posted on his blog, aheartforgodsglory.blogspot.com

December 2010