Asking that question will lead to all sorts of answers such as a Mariah Carey song, to a Michael Bublé hit, to the classic Randy Brooks track… Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Those are all great. And I love all of Bublé’s songs, most of Carey’s Christmas music, and I still sing the lyrics when Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer when it comes on the radio.
But one of my all-time favorite songs is O Holy Night. I heard it again, this time produced by Tomme Profitt and performed by Tauren Wells and SVRCINA. It was AMAZING. Actually, the whole The Birth of a King production was crazy amazing. (You can find it on YouTube or Spotify.) In any case, there are a few lyrics within this song that hit me as I look at, not only my life, but the world in general…
“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices.”
As I sit and think about this verse, it was written about a time and people when Jesus was born… When God Himself came to earth… I wonder if today is any different. We look out from our little window at a world that seems weary. And as we reflect on the year, weariness might be the word that describes and depicts the status of our lives and maybe even our own soul. We feel it deep inside our being.
And in the middle of the world’s weariness… In the middle of the weariness that we are surrounded by, that we might be experiencing ourselves… Here is the message to receive…
“‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior— yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”[Luke 2:10-11]
The song goes on to tell us exactly why we can experience joy in the middle of the weariness…
“The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger In all our trials born to be our friend He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger”
God Himself, Jesus, came to this world not to rule over us as a worldly king would. Jesus was born to rescue us from ourselves. To be a divine friend in the middle of our trials. He knows all our needs and experienced all our weaknesses. In other words, the King… The Savior understands. And in that and in Him we can find joy.
In the middle of our weariness we can rejoice because our joy is found in Jesus, the One who also experienced weariness and overcame. God wants each one of us to experience and know the real joy, the lasting joy that won’t grow dim even in the middle of weariness and what’s going on around or to us. This joy isn’t found in things, it’s found in Jesus and knowing Him, it’s the gospel of joy.
This time of year, I pray you come to know the One who truly knows you, who’s experienced all our weaknesses and trials and still overcame… It’s Jesus.
