JOY. Do You Have It?

I was working on the lesson for KidzView (our church's kids' program) last night and came across this "blurb" in the materials.  [It's not mine, it is from 252Basics.]

When you think of God’s character, does joyful come to mind? We may think of a powerful God, a stern God, even a loving God, but joyful? (1) Joy can be defined as finding a way to be happy, even when things don’t go your way. (2) Have you ever thought about what makes God joyful? His creation? (See Genesis 1:31.) Our regard and respect for Him? (Read Psalm 147:11.) Someone—just one person!—turning away from sin? (Check out Luke 15:10.) God, the Creator of joy, (3) wants us to have joy, even when times are tough: “Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have.” Why? Because “the One who promised us is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23, NIrV). In other words, we can expect God to keep His promises. In a sense, that’s what the birth of John was all about: God keeping His promises. (4) When you have joy in the middle of your struggles, people will notice. They’ll wonder why you’re happy, and you can tell them it’s because God keeps His promises. This week, help kids realize that even though waiting can be hard, like it was for Elizabeth and Zechariah, the perfection of God’s plan is always worth the wait.


So, do YOU have that kind of joy?  Do I? Made me stop and think.  I seem to have more joy in times of true, tough trial and then in the everyday humdrum of life I get caught up in trying to "fix things" or questioning "why."  Waiting is tough.  Whether we are waiting for the work week to end or for chores to be finished or for a cake to bake or for prayers to be answered--waiting is not fun.  But did you read what the above passage said?  "We can expect God to keep His promises!"  Let's have joy DURING the waiting and EXPECT God to do what He has promised.  Joy and expectation during the waiting...let's strive for that.