Powering Through “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
Sometimes my brain thinks so hard, “I hate Christmas,” it comes right out of my mouth. If anyone hears, they grimace and say, “Oh no, surely you don’t hate Christmas! Everyone loves Christmas!” They get one out of two, I do not hate Christmas, but neither does everyone love Christmas. The reality is, I struggle with the ‘Xmas’ season. This has nothing to do with the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ and everything to do with the darkness behind the tinsel.
As soon as the red, white and blue goes on clearance mid summer, the world of retail begins its annual lure with every imaginable possibility for Decking the Halls. It’s beautiful, inspiring and my creative engine begins to rev. However, sometime between that summer trip to Hobby Lobby and December 25th hope and joy have a head-on collision with despair and defeat. Fortunately, hope and joy have lost their momentum so the wreck is low impact with only minor damage. So I say to myself, “If I can just make it through the holidays I’ll be okay.”
I know exactly why my joy collides with despair. I begin to see only the failures of the world, shopaholics spending more, alcoholics drinking more, the entitled expecting more, abusers abusing more………..why would anyone participate in a season such as this?! Call it off!
Hundreds of years before God’s Son left His throne in Heaven to dwell among men, God delivered His divine plan of redemption to the prophet Isaiah. God gives His Son a name, a lengthy descriptive name: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:7 says, “Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end.”
This is hope and expectation. Somewhere in the universe there is peace because it is the essence of who God is. The gift He gave us in an event we now call Christmas, is Peace, accessible through Jesus. Where in the universe is this Peace now? Only in our hearts and flowing through our countenance and action. When God reigns in the hearts of men, His government will have no end.
I know the world’s problems are not mine to shoulder, but they do pile up in the ditches along life’s highway and I cannot ignore it. Because I can’t fix it all I struggle to focus and hear God’s call to do what I’m called. But these things I have learned:
1. Don’t let tradition stop you from being relevant.
2. The only gift that matters is HOPE.
3. Do what God asked you to do and leave it at that.
4. Be Kind!!!! Christmas gifts are soon forgotten, Christmas actions rarely are.
Will I ever say Christmas is my “Most Wonderful Time of Year?” Probably not. But there is a promise, a hope, a prophesy fulfilled by an All Powerful, All Knowing and All Loving God. That gives a whole new meaning to “Powering Through!”
Love,
Gretchen