Joy is not out there, joy is in here.
We always think of joy being, you know, when
something happens.
"I'm going to be happy when," right?
The "if only's."
The out there things.
What was it for Joseph?
"I've got a fiancee, we're going to get married.
We're going to have babies.
Hopefully we'll have some boys.
They'll grow up and help me in my carpenter's
shop.
That's our plan, maybe we'll build onto the
house."
Whatever.
Those are out there things I hope is going
to happen.
And maybe that's what you've been doing.
If I find the right person.
If the baby gets out of diapers.
Whatever.
When we get to this place where we've paid
off our debt, we're going to have this joy
in our life.
And that's a huge mistake.
That is happiness.
Happiness is from the same root word as happenings.
Happiness, happenings.
Those are the things that happen to us.
Joy is different.
That's why it's possible to have joy even
at Christmas time.
I show this picture every year because it's
one of my favorites.
Joy to the world, right?
You can have it, but it's got to come from
in here.
The second thing is that joy isn't found,
it's sent.
What did the angels tell the shepherds? "I bring you good news of great joy."
You're not going to go find great joy. You're not going to go find good news, I'm
bringing it to you.
It's not out there, it's in here, and you
don't find it, it is sent to you.
Everyone in the Christmas story has a situation
that's going on where it's going to be hard
to find joy in their lives, just like you
and I.
And I'm not saying that you shouldn't try
to fix your situation, whatever it is.
But that can't be where you find the joy,
because it's never going to work that way.
You have to trust God's plan.
Joy is a gift, so you're going to have to
unwrap it.
It's there, it's been brought to you.
It's available, but you have to unwrap it.
