Promises

"Thank God for His gift that the words can't describe!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

If I’m being honest December is always filled with a combination of highs and lows. I love Christmas itself—the traditions, the celebration of Jesus, being with family, and the festivities. I love that people seem a little kinder and the world seems a little brighter. I love the movies and the treats and the decorations. I love the special food that my mom makes and the way we gather around to watch It’s A Wonderful Life and listen to my dad read The Christmas Story out of Luke Chapter 2. I love being together and looking at lights and now seeing Christmas through the eyes of my niece and nephew. And I love seeing family you don’t get to see as much throughout the year and swapping memories from days gone by.

What I don’t love, however, is the hustle and bustle and stress of it. The long lines are enough to make me want to hibernate through the winter. Having to find people gifts, which is not my love language, and juggling all the things on my calendar makes me antsy. Trying to come up with a Christmas card when it’s just me, seems a little anticlimactic. And the cold weather really isn’t my thing. More than once I’ve had to remind myself to lean into the true meaning of the Christmas season and not get trapped by all the things that we have made it instead.

So this year, as the calendar changed from November to December, I was surprised that my heart was abundantly overflowing with pure Christmas joy; the kind of joy I hadn't experienced since I was kid. The lights seemed brighter. The songs seemed merrier. And the events coming my way were going to be filled with wondrous fun. I was determined to make the most of the season, especially in light of my extra-festive perspective. And everything was going according to plan until suddenly my season was ushered in not with cider or carols or trimming the tree, but with aches and chills and a fever of nearly a hundred and three.

Like a balloon being deflated, my Christmas joy evaporated overnight as it seemed my "perfect" holiday was already ruined. Held up in my bed, I was no longer in a cheerful mood. I didn't care about eating treats or seeing lights or going to parties. I had been hopeful for all of those things and only one day into the month that is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, things had already been derailed. I knew deep down that being sick wasn't the end of the world. It just really wasn’t what I had planned on the brink of such a promising December.

Amid these not-so-jolly thoughts, I felt that quiet tug, “Use this.” At first, I wondered what the Lord could possibly have for me to discover but then I realized quickly that it was the same lesson He was trying to teach me in all seasons of my life. Like so many times before, I realized that my definition of "Christmas joy" was based on circumstance. Joy doesn't come from everything going right. No, it's much, much deeper than that. A nod of Holy approval resonated inside my heart as I thought, "Christmas isn't about perfect...it's about promises."

After all, the first Christmas fulfilled a promise that God's people had been waiting on for four hundred years. It was a promise of the coming of a King. The promise of silence being broken from God above. The promise that they were not forgotten. And a promise of the rescue for all mankind. I considered the very first Christmas and wondered what their joy level might have looked like that night. They were completely unaware that everything was about to change and they had no idea that God Himself was about to collide with the earth He created with His own hands. Mary and Joseph surely didn’t understand it all. They were weary and roofless and most likely trying to figure out how to get through each day as they journeyed to Bethlehem. I don’t think the shepherds quite got it either. They were just going to work like any other ordinary night. The Inn Keeper didn’t know that he was fulfilling a prophecy by turning Mary and Joseph to the barn. The wise men didn’t know that their gifts would be recorded for all time. No, none of them were anticipating a season of holiday events. They didn’t decorate trees or bake cookies. And I'm pretty sure their circumstances were far from perfect and not ones they would have picked. And yet, in the middle of their messy, mundane, ordinary lives they found the greatest joy they would ever know. It wasn't because of anything they did, but because God was faithful to come just like He said He would. In that coming, God showed us that hope is not futile; it is fruitful. We can believe that He is true to His Word, that He cares, that He is involved, and that He is in the details, even the ones that don't quite go according to our plan.

And maybe that’s the lesson that I’m supposed to take to heart this holiday. When we accept that Christmas and life are not about perfection, perhaps we can see the promise a little better. When it seems God is silent, we can remember He will speak again. When it seems that God is far away, we can remember that He comes down to our level and resides with us. When it feels like we are forgotten, we can remind ourselves that God knows every intricate detail down to how much hay is needed to cradle His son. And when our idea of perfection gets a bit derailed, we can confidently know that God’s perfection is unfolding exactly the way He wants. I hope you take a moment this Christmas to breathe in God’s promises in your life. Take time to remember that He is good and faithful. That hope in Him is not void. That He is no stranger to the circumstances you are experiencing. He was there in the beginning before the world began. He was there in the stable and the fields the night His son entered our world. And He is God with us, Immanuel, right now, right here.

Merry Christmas 2023!

-Only Hope

God is WITH us in our struggles.

God is FOR us when it seems all else is against us. 

God will carry us THROUGH our pain. 

God will SUSTAIN you.

God's PEACE will guard your heart.

God DELIGHTS over you with singing.

God will INSTRUCT you and TEACH you in the way you should go.

God is your REFUGE and STRENGTH, your HELP in times of need.

In all things, you are MORE THAN CONQUERERS because God loves you.

God will NEVER LEAVE or forsake you.

God's perfect LOVE casts out all FEAR.

NOTHING can separate you from God's Love.

God's NOT DONE with you.

(from Youversion Bible Plan: Dealing With Uncertainty)