Monday, December 15, 2025

JOY

By Marica Hyde

Cortez, CO is located in a unique place on the edges of differing climates and landscapes. If you were to approach Cortez via New Mexico, you would find that just minutes Southwest of town is an eerily beautiful – seemingly desolate – desert landscape marked by rock formations, mesas, and desert vegetation. Northwest of town is an area of farms producing beans and vegetables. And only minutes Northeastward, you would find yourself in a forest canopy of Aspens and Evergreens.

These landscapes can serve as a picture for the seasons of life. At times, we will inevitably walk through circumstances that can feel like a valley in a desert. It can be tempting to focus only on ourselves as victims of whatever tragedy befalls us. Pop culture tells us that the Christmas season is always the most joyful time of the year, but it can be hard to find that joy while walking through pain, grief or hardship. 

Traditionally, Advent was a time for the Church to fast in preparation for the feast of Christmas when we welcome “God with us”. Advent is meant to be its own type of wilderness journey to remind us of the joy that will come with being near to God when we are with Christ Jesus. Those landscapes that surround Cortez can be a continual reminder that the desert places may seem desolate, but they have their own beauty. The very hardships themselves drive us to cry out for His presence, and so they can be an opportunity to practice intimacy with God.

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted: he saves those crushed in Spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 CSB)

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 CSB)

So, how can we hold joy that honors God in a season of life that feels particularly parched?

In this Advent season of preparation, if you find yourself in a desert, make moments to put down a picnic blanket right there on the cracked earth, give thanks, and feast on Christ. He is our Source and our Lord. 

Do not forget what he has done for us or lose hope in what He is doing for us. In view of God’s authority, remember to accept God’s correction in that desert, and listen for his guidance. The wilderness is a time of refinement – the desert is the route that God is using to prepare us in order to bring us to a place of something fertile.

Christ himself is our joy, and we have access to Him!

May we long more for Christ The Rescuer, rather than to be rescued.