For some, it's the lighted Christmas
tree in the living room that says the Christmas season is underway.
Others feel it when they first hear carols coming out of the stereo,
see lighted displays on the nighttime drive home from work, or smell
gingerbread baking in the oven. But nothing puts the holiday
happiness in my heart like seeing my Christmas decorations on top of
my kitchen cabinets once more. Twinkling colored lights twisted
through a lengthy garland edge a display of stuffed Christmas
characters interspersed with decorated shopping bags and
holiday-themed plates. In the course of the nearly thirty years we
have lived in this house, certain items have laid claim to their own
positions in the display. Stuffed versions of Rudolph and Clarice
insist on being placed directly over the oven, their noses almost
touching as if kissing under invisible mistletoe, while the
Abominable Snowman roars menacingly from a nearby corner. A lamb
sleeps in a lion's arms at the other end of the cabinetry,
representing the peace of the season, while penguins, snowmen and
gingerbread people wave merrily at any who happen to look in their
direction. As much as I love each of the individual elements of the
display, it's the lights that make it special to me.
Nothing speaks hope in a darkened world
like a string of brightly twinkling lights. That's why I was
devastated to look up one day early in the season and see that a
section of the garland in the center of the display had gone dark.
Everything else about the display was still in place; the reindeer
still posed, the snowmen still waved, and the Christmas bags still
displayed their messages of goodwill. But it seemed meaningless and
joyless somehow without the lights winding through it all.
Some of you know exactly what I mean.
The light has gone out of your Christmas this year and you find
yourself just going through the motions without the joy that makes
the holiday season so bright. It could be a break in a relationship
with a loved one that has dimmed your delight; a death in the family,
an absent face and an empty place at the dinner table. Maybe the loss
of a job or your health or your home has robbed you of the means to
celebrate as you have done in years gone by. Whatever the cause, you
have lost your hope of a happy holiday season this year.
Some of us deal with these difficulties
by just opting out. We decide to just skip Christmas this year. We
vow to celebrate as usual again next year when we feel more in the
spirit of things. And in doing so we miss the chance to have the most
precious holiday season of any that's gone before...because never
have we needed it more. Christmas is fun when things are going well
in life. But it's true meaning is discovered when things are not
going as planned...when life is interrupted by some unexpected
darkness.
The message of Christmas is that God is
with us in the midst of our trouble. Even when we feel most alone, He
is aware of our situation, collecting our tears, and counting the
days till the culmination arrives. Surely God was with Mary long
before the actual birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. She physically carried
the Answer to her prayers during the days of her humiliating
pregnancy...on that long jolting ride on the back of a donkey...in
those painful hours of delivery in the hay of a stable floor. It was
at the height of her distress that Hope was born, and she was
suddenly able to see and hold the baby whose very name spoke the
Christmas message: Emmanuel, “God is with us.”
And so it can be for you. The wonder of
a difficult Christmas is the opportunity to learn anew that though
your circumstances might be challenging, you are not alone in them.
Hope is longing to be born anew in their midst. As you travel the
difficult road to your own personal Bethlehem, know that there is
help available to those who are struggling to find their way. What a
lesson there is for us in that even the wise men searching for Jesus
had to stop and ask for direction, not once but multiple times. There
is an often overlooked Christmas gift tucked into the paragraphs of
the Bible describing the event. Hidden in the story are the words,
“And receiving an answer to their asking,
they were divinely instructed...” (Matthew 9:12 AMP, emphasis
mine). They asked what to do, and received an answer. We can do the
same.
My kitchen garland is shining brightly
again now. My husband had bought extra short strings of lights at the
end of the season last year, and offered one to me. I was able to
weave the new strand in with the old to get me through this year
until I can buy a new garland at a later date. And so it is with the
more serious aspects of this holiday season. If you're struggling in
any way, ask for help, especially of God, and receive with joy and
thanksgiving the assistance that comes in a wide variety of forms.
Your Christmas may be patched rather than perfect, but it can
be perfectly wonderful, just the same.
“Direct my footsteps
according to your word...”
(Psalm 119:133 NIV)
Beautifully said!
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