Taken from The Mosaic Bible:
Advent is a time of hope; the spirit of eager anticipation pervades the senses. Even in the refuge of your own home, the season is inescapable as carolers dismiss the social inhibitions that dominate the other eleven months of the year. But when tragedy, depression, or even loneliness steals your joy, you can almost resent the hope that others have.
When we think our hope unfulfilled, we adjust our expectations. We take on new causes, reconsider our optimism, or sometimes become leery of new endeavors. We can even become angry with God, feeling desolate or abandoned. But even if we lose our hope in God, he will never give up on us.
God doesn’t share our limited perspective, and that is one of the reasons that the hope of Advent isn’t dependent on how we are feeling. It can be comforting to rely on the one who give us hope, even when the light of that hope doesn’t seem to penetrate our temporary darkness.
Often think that joy that can be stolen is probably not joy at all but feelings brought on by seasonal fun.
I think you're right. We so often put our hope in things that we think bring us joy, but bring only those good feelings.
On the flip-side I do want to "experience" joy this Advent but am struggling.
I'm sorry to hear that> I'll be praying for you.