Advent Week 3 - Joy of Every Longing Heart

Hello friends,

My semester ended last week, and I took some much-needed time to rest and recharge this weekend. As much as I wanted to post this earlier, the extra time gave me a chance to rest and reflect. Thanks for your patience, and for visiting!


    This year, I helped my parents search for new Christmas decorations for their front yard. There were a lot of different options, but the ones that caught my eye were the big plastic cutouts spelling the word “joy”. This word can be seen everywhere this time of year. It seems to be used synonymously with “happiness.” In fact, Merriam-Webster defines it as a “feeling of great happiness,” and “a source or cause of great happiness.” But are they actually the same, and if not, how are they different? I believe that the difference is found at the source. Happiness comes in response to favorable circumstances or events. I feel happy when I hear from a friend, or when playing with my nephew. Joy is not rooted in circumstances. In John 4, Jesus teaches us a powerful lesson. He makes a stop in Samaria on His way to Galilee. At surface level, this seemed like a risky move - as someone not from Samaria, His safety could have been an issue. But even in this, we have a lesson. Jesus crossed the lines of human assumption and division, guided by purpose and the will of His Father. There was someone there for Him to meet. A woman approaches a well in the middle of the day, alone and carrying heavy internal and external burdens. As he greets her and speaks with her, she seems resistant, and I wonder if her tone may have even been a little defensive. “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well?” (Vv. 11-12) Jesus does not become defensive or try to prove her wrong. He simply says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Beneath a tough front and some cynicism, He knows that her deepest need is for the life He can give to her, and He speaks to that need. Imagine speaking with your Creator, not knowing it, and being offered wholeness in person. Stop and think about it.

    Through the course of their conversation, Jesus reveals that He knows her, and knows the broken nature of her life. He sees her, and is not limited by what she has or has not done. She admits, “I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” (v. 25) Here is the longing - for answers, for explanation, for hope. To which Jesus answers, “I, the one speaking to you - I am he.” He answered the longing of the woman of Samaria with truth, compassion, and hope. Her response was to joyfully bring others to Him. Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” contains a line that stops me in my tracks whenever I read, sing or play it: “Joy of every longing heart”

    There is no formula for joy. Human kind has been trying to find it for ages. But in order to experience it to the full, our sights must be fixed on Jesus. Through faith found in Him and the price He paid for us on the cross, the joy that results springs from the fertile soil of transformation. Because of the change He brings to our lives, we can experience peace and joy in adverse circumstances, as well as favorable ones. Joy is an invitation to us to make room in our lives and hearts for the One who has given everything for us. He sees you and me, and the longing in our hearts. We long for many things. I long for Covid to be gone, for other heart homes that are far away, for my heart to be finished grieving changed relationships,for relationships to be whole, for hurt, anxiety, and pain to all be past. My friends, you see, joy is more than happiness. It is hope beyond present circumstances, and trust in the One who holds all things in His hands. So in the meantime, will you resolve with me to gaze at Christ, trusting in the work He has done for each of us, and welcoming His transforming work? He is the joy of every longing heart, and as we respond to Him, seeing Him for who He is, may we draw others to Him as well.