Longing for Joy at Christmas

This year our longings at Christmas are strong for numerous reasons. Many yearn for joy, but it seems in short supply, and Christmas is a time of pain, loss, and hurt.

Advent refers to the four Sundays and weeks before Christmas. It helps us prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ. It is a time of anticipation that something better is coming. It looks back with expectation to the arrival of a Messiah and points us to a Savior who will be God with us. But it also looks forward to the return of King Jesus to usher in the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

Longing for Joy is the third study from Isaiah in our Advent series. When Isaiah wrote, joy was elusive for God’s people as they ached, yearned, and hoped for a better day. Use this discovery lesson individually, with your family, or with your discovery community/small group to focus on God’s promise of joy as we wait in times of struggle, disruption, and strife.

Previously:
Week 1: Longing for Hope at Christmas
Week 2 Longing for Peace at Christmas

Have you ever wondered if joy and hope will ever find their way into your life? This week in the advent story brings us to a turning point, and Isaiah offers us a promise of coming joy.

Link and acknowledge God’s presence in prayer

Gracious God, I long for Your Joy. May it come with Jesus and fill me to overflowing, and may it surge through me to others.

Listen to God’s Word

In chapter 34, Isaiah’s words paint the image of destruction and devastation, but then in chapter 35, he points to a time of great reversals when even dry, desert places rejoice in the Glory of God.

Read Isaiah 35:1-10 with purpose

Take your time and read Isaiah 35:1-10 at least three times, listening for the things that draw your attention.

Discover Joy

Where, in your life, are you longing for God’s joy today?
What reversals do you see in this passage?
What “deserts” in our world need this kind of blooming and reversals?
What “deserts” in your life do you long to see blooming?
How does this passage offer joy in anticipation of the Savior’s birth?
How does this passage offer joy in anticipation of Christ’s second coming?
What does this passage tell us about God?
What does this passage tell us about people?

Look and examine your own life

Is there anything you need to do differently to be obedient because of what you discovered in this passage?

Leave to be on mission with Christ

What have you discovered about God’s mission?
How can you help others find the highway through the wilderness that brings them to the joy of being in God’s presence?
Who can you tell about the good news you discovered?

Love and worship God

Worship and listen to In the Bleak Midwinter and capture the imagery, not only of winter itself, but of a bleak, dark world as cold as ice longing for deliverance.