Shining Our Light For All To See

Final thoughts

Back in the present, I’d like to pull the curtain back a little more on why I selected this devotional excerpt for you this week.

Earlier, I wrote that when I was a teenager in Hawaii, it felt like real life held its breath. The same thing happened in a field two thousand years ago when an angel announced to a group of unsuspecting shepherds: “I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11, NASB). Real life held its breath and heavenly glory invaded the world.

Friends, we don’t have to take a vacation or be visited by angels to have that same sense of wonder. We can live with that joyful expectation right now — and all year long. “Good news of great joy” has come, in the person of Jesus! He was born to bring us joy even in our insecurity, heartache, loneliness, or struggle.

Next week, I’ll remember walking with my dad in a Hawaiian paradise, and I’ll imagine him walking in a heavenly paradise. What a source of joy — and yet grief at the same time. I so miss my sweet dad. My thoughts turn to those of you missing someone this Christmas. I know it’s hard.

But this I also know: Joy can be found even when there’s a lump in our throat. Let’s look for it¬ in the deep well of our memories. Let’s lean toward it by anticipating our heavenly home that awaits. And while we’re at it, let’s find joy in the here and now. When we invite joy to enter our hearts — just as Jesus entered our world two thousand years ago — we show a watching world the best demonstration of our faith. We show them what “good news of great joy” looks like: the light of Jesus that shines for all to see.

This blog is an excerpt from Shaunti Feldhahn’s devotional, Find Joy: A Devotional Journey to Unshakable Wonder in an Uncertain World.

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