These reflections are adapted from Jesus, The Refugee King: Embracing the Marginalized and Displaced, an Advent resource created by Covenant World Relief & Development.
Joy often grows in places we don’t associate with joy at all. Sometimes it emerges through someone who keeps showing up when everything else feels uncertain. Jotham’s story begins our third week of Advent in that often overlooked space. He steps into leadership during a fragile time, inheriting a kingdom still recovering from turmoil.
His calling is not to dazzle the people but to steady them.
It’s easy to imagine Jotham rising before sunrise, the air still cool, the first light spilling across the city walls. He runs a calloused hand along the stones, checking for cracks that may have formed overnight. Workers gather beside him, waiting for instructions. They are tired—tired of upheaval, tired of threat, tired of wondering what will collapse next.
Jotham doesn’t promise instant transformation. He doesn’t speak in grand speeches. Instead, he strengthens what is weak. He reinforces what is fragile. He chooses faithfulness where others might retreat. His leadership is not dramatic. It is durable.
Joy often looks like that: strength rising up in the middle of instability.
In many places today, people displaced by conflict live in that same longing for stability. On the outskirts of a village in DR Congo, a woman named Marie once stood beside the shell of a home she barely recognized. Violence had pushed her family from place to place, and grief had worn her thin. But through months of training and community support, she found herself stepping into a new role—helping others find food, rebuild their shelters, and advocate for their needs. She became a strong presence for neighbors who felt as lost as she once did. And joy slowly returned to her slowly.
Jotham’s life echoes this truth. Joy is not always a burst of celebration. Sometimes it comes from faithfulness that strengthens others, even when we ourselves feel stretched. Joy takes shape in the decision to keep showing up.
Most of us seek joy through relief—when the hardship lifts, when the burden ends. But the third candle of Advent teaches us that joy often appears in the middle of unfinished work. It rises through endurance and service. It becomes visible when someone chooses to build something that others will one day call home.
Jesus, The Refugee King is an Advent resource from Covenant World Relief & Development that journeys through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, exploring the stories of individuals who faced exile, displacement, and marginalization.
