Christmas Coping, Moping or Hoping
Okay! Your beautiful Thanksgiving family photos on social media drew me in. Incredible displays of tables set with perfection. Those photos represent family love and traditions. Seeing them makes me want to gather all the photos I took and add them to my blog today, but I won’t. Obviously, I’m still in thanks-giving and gratitude-living afterglow. But, I’m moving on to this glorious Christmas season of rockin’ around the Christmas tree and dreaming of a white Christmas.
But maybe Christmas cheer isn’t on your radar right now. You may not be invested in the holidays while others are getting their holly-jolly-selves on! They’re cheerful, happy, all caught up in their blessing moods while you are in the middle of bailing water out of your boat. You’re holding your breath that one more thing doesn’t capsize your boat and you go under. You may be one who dreads this time of the year as it holds so many memories past and you’re so very lonely. Or it is the season that reminds you that you have little or nothing at all to shop ‘til you drop. You’re a giver and it breaks your heart that you can’t give.
I know not everyone is able to get into the “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” singing, dancing, and ringing jingle bells. Your hope has been lost from the heaviness of the weight you are carrying. I know that because I know what those weights look and feel like. I’ve been there. Even as I type this blog today, I’m thinking of some dear family members and friends who are carrying, what seem to be, enormous weights of hopelessness.
Here comes the lessons we learn again from Paul the Apostle who had the right to tell us what gratitude and hope looks like because he knew heavy weights. He said: “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Hope does not disappoint us, because God poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us.” Romans 5:2-5
We can be thankful, even in hardship, because our future is based on God’s love, not on our present situation. We may experience temporary hardships, but they all came TO PASS. The phrase “it came to pass” occurs again and again in the Old Testament. “It came to pass” describes events in history and even our own experiences. “It came to pass” reminds us that these tough times are soon over; they come, but they “come to pass.” We may not always realize it, but it is always true. I know this scripture is true – I lived it. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Some of those nights were long, long nights, but they came to pass and they did pass. Wounds heal. Heartbreak mends. Tears cease. A new day dawns. A new sunrise dispels the darkness. Despair loses its hold. Grief is replaced with hope. It came to pass.
Being positive and faith-filled takes discipline. Can I hear a big “AMEN”? We can do this. Gratitude is in us. We don’t want to waste this season with worry. We don’t want to live in regret. We don’t want to miss out on THIS day that He made with you and me in mind. Because this day – came to pass. We’ll never get this day back. And this Advent and Christmas will never come again.
This is our opportunity to look up with hope and expectation that something good is about to happen. As we embrace the journey of a young, courageous girl and a supportive, noble man to the town of Bethlehem, may we too, take a journey of faith and hope. There can be “Joy to the World” and joy to you and me that dispels the darkness around us and the brightness of the Star of Bethlehem brightens our own world with hope and joy. Isn’t it worth the effort to take the journey that might change everything? “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24