The combination of anticipating lighting the “joy” candle in our advent wreath on Sunday and reading an excellent reflection titled “The Weary World Rejoices” has me thinking a lot about how to cultivate joy in the midst of our weary, waiting world.

Joy, as you will remember, is distinct from happiness in that it is not dependent on circumstances. This is good news because, truthfully, our circumstances are comparatively hard these days. The world is “weary,” or as it says in Romans 8, “creation is groaning,” and we are “weary and “groaning” as we wait for Christ to return. So how do we find and express joy in the midst of our groaning, weary, waiting?

We do it by turning our eyes upon Jesus and realizing that with His incarnation He entered into our pain and suffering. Jesus’ birth didn’t end pain or suffering, but He did enter into it and paved the way for us to inherit eternal life free from pain and suffering and united with him. Truly then, we can and should rejoice even in the midst of a weary world!