We’re planning to explore the Biblical subject and Advent theme of JOY this coming Sunday. We probably all have a few stories about our own journey of joy. Here’s a little snippet of mine. I was a pretty happy baby, you should see my baby pictures…(just ask my mom). I had a wonderful childhood and lots of good friends. My thoughts of my childhood are filled with mostly happy memories. I enjoyed making people laugh, my little brothers were my audience to start with but at school I found a few others who liked to laugh and we had good times. (I don’t remember laughing in Junior High but that is another part of my story.) Fast forward a lot of years, I was happily married, I had two fine sons and things at church were relatively good. But I was sad! It wasn’t a short-term sadness and it wasn’t based on circumstances. I just couldn’t get out from under the cloud. I was unaccustomed to sadness for any long period of time so this season was very mystifying to me. I was experiencing darkness that I only heard about from others and I just couldn’t shake it. Diane and I were at Kregel Bookstore in November of 2006 and while browsing for a book to read while deer hunting my eyes were drawn to John Piper’s book, “When I Don’t Desire God—How to Fight for Joy.” I knew I needed that though I didn’t know if I had enough energy to fight. As I sat in my “deer shack” that year and read, tears were running down my face. I honestly don’t remember if I shot a deer that year or not but I do remember learning that sometimes we have to fight for joy. Sometimes joy has to be, in the words of another theologian, “a defiant nevertheless.” Piper suggested certain practices (disciplines) that needed to be embraced in the fight. I also learned that sadness can be a gift. Sadness became for me like my appetite. An appetite means I am hungry for food and it drives me to find some. Sadness turned out to be an appetite for God…it drove me to Him. The fight for joy is never won by pursuing joy but by pursuing God. He is the happiest and most joyful Being in the universe and joy comes as a by-product of seeking Him and His purposes. It didn’t happen overnight but over the course of a few months, the joy returned. The fight was worth it. If you are hungry for joy, I suggest seeking the happiest Person in the universe through His Son Jesus Christ and His Word. Sometimes joy won’t come without a fight…but He’s worth it!“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”