I think when we look back at 2020 as a whole we can agree that “joyful” would not be the word to describe the experiences of this past year. Nine months ago our lives were turned upside down with the impact of Covid-19 and then the subsequent cancelations of major events in everyone’s lives. Events canceled and lives changed with little to no closure as we are still walking alongside the damage Covid has done and has still yet to do. With that, there have been many times I have found myself on the opposite side of “joyful” and in a season of “hurry up and wait:" hurrying up in the times where it seems like the world goes back to normal only to wait when we are put on lockdown as the cases once again rise. Feeling a sense of urgency to keep up with my friends and family and let them know how much I appreciate them, yet waiting until the day I can see them in person and not through a computer screen.
In this season of “hurry up and wait'' there have been few events where I have experienced a true sense of joy. I remember when my graduate school program made the announcement that our graduation was going virtual and I wouldn’t be able to experience walking across the stage at the university I had dreamed about since I was 8 years old. I was heartbroken to say the least. Covid had already taken so much and it wasn’t fair that it was taking yet another milestone away from me. I can’t say I found joy in that experience but what I did realize was that a new sense of joy was emerging. When I reflect back on all that 2020 was and the events that occurred, there may have not been the traditional joyful moments but a new sense of joy that brought contentment in the waiting and grace in the time of uneasiness and anxiety.
Reflecting back on this year I realized that all along there have been little glimpses of joy that I have overlooked. I have found joy in having more time to call my Grandma and tell her about my day or the new book I’m reading. I have found joy in creating a daily routine that is not rushed. I have found joy in seeking out the small moments that prior to Covid I often took for granted. The joy of eating dinner with my family at the kitchen table, watching a movie on the weekend and all those little things that seem insignificant but add so much joy to a year that has been fraught with lockdowns, anxiety and losses. *I would be remiss to not state that in no way am i undermining the suffering, fatigue and loss that many people have endured during Covid 19. These are just a few examples of the ways that due to cancelled classes and postponed activities have made extra room for reflection and for experiences to hold a deeper meaning*.
I have never been good at waiting. I’m always thinking of the tasks that lie ahead in weeks, months and even years down the line. Yet with a sense of peace I have welcomed this season of Advent. Looking forward to the joy of what Jesus’ birth will bring. The joy of making it through each day knowing that if all I did that day was wake up and get through the day, then that is good enough. The joy of knowing that even though our world and this year has shaken all of us in some way, the Lord is consistent. There is joy knowing that even with the uncertainty of what this year brought and is to come, the Lord never wavers. He has drawn so close to our hearts and is preparing our hearts for His coming.
I have been drawn to Philippians Chapter 4 that is talking about “rejoice for indeed the Lord is near”. I have been drawn to those words because how sweet is it to know that amidst the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring and the uncertainty of how this year has played out, God’s word is alive and never changing. My heart is at peace knowing that even when I feel empty of the joy I once knew filled with tangible milestones, I am filled with this new joy: the joy of the mundane. The joy of what it means to be present with family. What it means to not overlook the small moments that without Covid I would have brushed off as not important. If there is one thing the Lord has been cultivating in my heart this Advent season is that the grief of what we imagined 2020 to look like is okay. We need to feel those feelings. Each person's experience of 2020 has shaped them in a new way, not for comparison but for comradery with each other as this virus has caused a universal shift in human life. It is okay to grieve, it is okay to feel uncertain. God is near to us in those times and that is powerful. We might feel uneasy or shaken but He is unshakable and He is consistent. He loves and looks upon us with so much joy of what each of us have accomplished this year.
If you take one thing away let it be this. God is proud of what you have accomplished this year. Whether that is in tangible milestones or if it is merely making it through each day with a determined heart to find joy. Finding joy is possible when we look beyond the surface and dig deeper into the heart of what constitutes joy and what it looks like. Be proud of your small victories. God is rejoicing that His people are waiting with anticipation for his birth and you too, should be rejoicing for all that you have been through this year. Remember that no matter how much the world tries to rob you of joy, the joy of the Lord will always be lit inside of you and that will never change.
There is joy in the mundane
There is hope in Christ’s coming
There is grace in the unknown
I pray that this season of Advent brings you a joyful heart in anticipation of Christ’s coming and a posture of acceptance of all the good and bad that 2020 brought you. I pray God’s joy shines through your darkest days, shines bright in the good and even when the world says otherwise. I pray that although the joy of tangible moments may have been lost this year, you find that new sense of joy- the one that goes beyond the surface and brings wholeness, closure and joyful anticipation of all that is to come.
Written By Our Revealer: Haley Coghlan
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