Joy in Seasons

At the writing of this post, it’s the eve of the first day of December. We have just finished Thanksgiving and find ourselves knocking on Christmas’ door. I don’t know where you find yourself this holiday season. Maybe you are excited because this is the first of holidays with something new in your life. Maybe this past year has brought you a spouse, child, house, or something else your heart has been longing for. Maybe you’re reading this and you find yourself on the opposite end. This is the first holiday season of grief. It’s the empty seat, one less present to wrap, no job to go to season for you. You’ve experienced loss and the holidays are a reminder of what once was. Personally, my heart has been heavy as it seems this year, I personally know so many people who have lost a loved one and this is their first holiday season without them. My heart is also heavy as my family and I are a few days away from it being one year since we stepped out and left a ministry we had been a part of for almost eight years and had been the only home my kids could remember.

Over the last year, the Lord has been constantly showing me Philippians 4:4-7. To be honest, more times than not, I don’t want to see it or read it. What I thought would be a short season has not been. I’ve kept making my supplications known and it seems silent more than I hear God’s voice. For those that have lost a loved one, maybe it feels like your prayers hit that same silence. So how are we to rejoice always? I think for too long, I’ve envisioned rejoice with a happy smile on my face and being extremely excited and celebrating. Recently the Holy Spirit has been showing me that rejoicing has more to do with my heart’s posture than with an outward expression. It has to do more with my obedience than with my outcomes.

Probably the most widely used example in the Bible is Job. Job lost everything and even had his wife telling him to just “curse God and die.” And yet Job stayed faithful. Job trusted in God when He had no other reason to except that God is God. Job had lost his wealth and sources of income, Job had lost all of his kids and in these times his lineage and namesake. Job lost the friends who may have been close at some point. And what seems like the final straw, even loses the respect of his wife potentially or best-case scenario was wanting her husband to die so he wouldn’t be suffering any longer. And yet, Job stays faithful to God because he knows that God is always faithful to him. When I think about the circumstances surrounding Job, I know for me I would have been feeling like God was not only silent, but also angry with me. And yet, none of this was true. God restored and redeemed these voids in Job’s life. Job didn’t literally get the kids back that had died, but the grief was replaced eventually with joy again. I know in my life, my void of lost loved ones will never fully be replaced. However, I have seen God replace days of hopelessness and despair with joy once again.

Another thing I love so much about this story is that Job brought his raw feelings before the Lord. He didn’t hide them, he didn’t downplay them, he brought them and laid them at the feet of the Father. God is not only more than capable of handling our feelings ( he already knows them), He longs for us to bring them to His feet. Job didn’t know how God was working, but He knew that He was. Job couldn’t see down the road to what lie ahead, but He trusted God to lead Him there. As we’ve been on at this 15 month journey seeking the next ministry role for our family, I’ve seen God’s hand. Not too long ago, I saw the website of a ministry with whom we had interviewed. We had a pause in our spirit about it after talking with them, and couldn’t understand why and actually never had a follow up from them after a meal. Here we are almost ten months removed from that meal, and senior leadership is no longer at the church, numerous staff have left or resigned and from what I’m told it would not have been good for our family to be finding ourselves there. God already knew this, and shut the door for our protection.

I am thankful and joyful for this. And in this I am reminded to bring my emotions and lay them at Christ feet just as Job did. I’m reminded that I can rejoice in the Lord through anger, tears, and frustration. That I can question why while also trusting in that He is God and He never will change. Life will change, my circumstances will change, holidays and how they look will change, but He is the one and only constant you and I will ever find in this life. That is enough to have some joy about this holiday season. Since He is and forever will be constant, then you and I always have “a friend that stickers closer than a brother”, a God that “never will leave nor forsake us”, who is “near to the broken hearted”, and so much more. So whatever this holiday season brings for you, I pray that you have joy in your Spirit. For you and I are not alone. Merry Christmas.

Author: Jonathan Brantley

Jonathan Brantley has been in ministry for 20 years, serving in churches and camping ministry.  He does freelance writing and speaking for the North American Mission Board.  He, his wife, and his kids currently reside in Martinez, GA while seeking God’s next plan.