And Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
- Luke 1:46–47 (NIV)
Joy is often misunderstood. We confuse it with an emotional high, a good mood, or a fleeting sense of happiness that disappears when life gets hard. But joy isn’t dopamine or denial. It isn’t dependent on things working out exactly the way we want.
True joy is different. It’s the kind of joy Mary chose when she sang, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Mary wasn’t sitting in a cozy home with her family, sipping hot cocoa. She was a teenage girl, misunderstood and ostracized. An unwed mother carrying the Savior of the world. The unfair assumptions, the rumors, the stares, the loneliness… yet she lifted her voice in praise.
When she sang this prayer, she wasn’t pretending everything was okay. She chose to believe God’s promise that the Savior was on the way. Her joy didn’t rise from ease; it rose from expectancy. It was rooted not in comfort but in the promise of Jesus Christ.
This is true joy. The choice to trust in God’s promises. An attitude we choose not because life is easy—because it often isn’t—but because God’s plans and provisions are real. And they’re good because God is good.
So, in this Advent season, here are two questions that can increase your capacity for joy and help others with theirs, too: What is one step you can take to trust God in your circumstances? It could be a simple prayer of gratitude or simply pausing to breathe and remember that joy can coexist with uncertainty and pain. How might you bring joy to someone else this week? Send an encouraging note, share a meal, or give a gift anonymously. Sometimes joy grows when we give it away.
