For this third week of Advent, the Church’s focus is joy. And the joy we have is not based on circumstances, but rather on a deep, abiding faith in the goodness and sovereignty of our triune God. The Advent candle for this week is traditionally pink, signifying a mixture of colors. In the same way, our joy in this life is often mixed with sorrow, yet we rejoice nonetheless (Philippians 4:4). And this mixture of joy with grief is meant to call our thinking back to Jesus’s first coming, when the joy surrounding the arrival of the Son of God was pierced by the sorrow of His eventual crucifixion. Let us remember God’s big-picture plan, and that He is at work in the world even when we don’t understand what He’s doing. Allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of the joy that is yours in Christ. “…nor anything else in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:39