I am a huge fan of Pathfinder Second edition, and a generally big fan of table top role playing games in general. If you’ve ever hung out in the CFF Discord you’ve probably heard me geek out over collaborative story telling, crunchy-nuanced rules and the incredible game setting that we all get to enjoy each others’ shenanigans. One of the most exciting parts of Pathfinder is character creation, where you make the game character you’ll be progressing through the story with. It’s common practice to plan out your character all the way through to the maximum level. Much of the enjoyment comes from the anticipation of being able to play through to those higher levels. No matter what your character goes through, the enjoyment of a character’s journey persists through it all, knowing what sort of abilities and powers you’ll grow into.
This is the third week of Advent and if you’ve been following along the first couple of weeks, you will have seen a clear pattern. Hope isn’t based on circumstances or wishful thinking, but on God’s disposition and His faithfulness. Peace isn’t drawn from our striving, but one knowing and experiencing God’s character and His harmony. Just like Pathfinder joy is delight grounded in a known future, Biblical joy is delight grounded in a faithful God and promised future.
We often think of joy as the same thing as happiness – when things go well we are joyful. But joy that is merely based on things that happen to us is remarkably flimsy and fragile. As soon as circumstances shift with the wind, then that “joy” disappears.
But in this season of Advent, we rediscover that joy is something altogether different. Joy doesn’t deny pain or provide some vague bubble of optimism, but instead, it’s a contentment or a freedom that comes from knowing God and trusting His character. God’s faithfulness to us doesn’t depend on circumstances, it doesn’t even depend on our performance or achievements as Christians. Since God’s promises are always sure, our joy can last when life is difficult, hard or even painful.
We see this sort of joy in the Bible everywhere! People celebrate their joy not only after God rescues them, but also while they are currently in need of rescue, in the midst of fearful circumstances and even under persecution. We look into the past and see God’s faithfulness and see that He is trustworthy and good, and this recalling of God’s goodness, fuels a joy and expectation for when He will do so again. Even when waiting involves patience and suffering, this joy remains because it is anchored in who God has proven Himself to be.
This joy doesn’t just come willy-nilly but is rooted in being in relationship with God. It comes from joining hands with a God who walks with us in and through present hardship, and who promises to one day set all things right. Just like we know how our characters in Pathfinder are going to turn out, even if we aren’t aware of the stories our Game Master will tell to take us there, our joy comes from knowing how we will end up, by Whose side we’ll find rest and peace, even if we don’t know the exact journey He will take us on to get there.
Advent invites us into a uniquely keen heart posture: Joy, not by pretending everything is fine, but walking forward with trust, anticipation, and hope, understanding that God is faithful, that He is present with us now, and that He will finish the story He has already begun.
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