Christmas Blog 2013

This year has been one marked with many unexpected sorrows, and we have had to say goodbye to dear loved ones and friends.  We have seen God working through our pain and suffering in ways that have cut a swath through the sometimes deadness and lukewarmness of our hearts, and light a fire within us to reach out to unharvested souls for Him.  We have also seen the devil try and split churches through misguided theology but he has not been able to touch the fellowship and love of God that continues to bind us together.  We continue to pray for one another despite the differences.    

There is always a spiritual revival through pain and suffering, and God has strengthened us to go through the fire unscathed.  We have suffered personal loss, but we have gained immeasurably in our closeness to God, and we have realized how precious His spiritual gifts to us really are.  We see much more clearly that the things of this world are just that – things.  They hold no special purpose in our lives other than to use for whatever purpose and then let them go. 

In our losses, we have searched for answers, but instead have found a peace that passes all understanding.  We have discovered that our God is immeasurably wiser than any of our thoughts can even begin to imagine and that He is Sovereign.  All we have to do is trust in Him and take His Loving Hand as He guides us on this bumpy narrow path fraught with difficulty one step at a time, one day at a time. 

And now we are close to Christmas.  Some years it comes so fast and there is so much to do to get ready for it, it comes and goes like a blur.  Not so this year.  This year as I gaze at our beautiful and traditional well-lit Christmas tree, I find so much hope in what it represents.  God is a God of light, and when Jesus' birth was announced, "glory shone all around."  There was light.  Real light and symbolic light – people were in spiritual darkness until that time and then they saw a great light, the light of Jesus.  I love driving around just before Christmas and looking at how people decorate their houses with lights.  Some displays are really spectacular and people go all out.  In the darkness of winter nights, nothing is so hopeful as seeing Christmas lights.  And hope is what it's all about. 

When Jesus arrived, the world that Jesus arrived in was largely without hope.  Politically it was ruled by evil men, the same lot that would one day crucify Him.  All throughout Jesus' ministry, we read about people who had no hope and they turned to Jesus because they had heard about Him and there was something mysteriously different about Him. In fact, He was like no one they had ever seen or met before.  He was infinitely special. He was God. 

In our world today, we may think that we are advanced since those days, and because of the material wealth we enjoy in many parts of the world, we may be fooled into thinking we have hope and we don't need God.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  For all of our wealth comes with a price tag if it not used for the Kingdom of God.  In James it says,  

Jas 5:1    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 

Money and wealth do not give hope unless they are used for the good and to help others.  Money and wealth cannot erase the sorrow when we go through loss, heartache and tribulation.  We cannot become too comfortable if we have been blessed financially or in any other way.  Everything belongs to God and He can take it or He can let us enjoy it, but it is never ours to possess and keep.  This has been an ongoing lesson for me throughout my life and I have learned through hardship that it's the things of God that really matter.  It is not the Christmas gifts that we unwrap that bring lasting joy.  It is the gift of fellowship with one another, and the thankfulness for the great gift of Jesus, God's own Son, whom we can turn to night or day. 

The joy of the Lord comes with Christmas, and our great hope if we have been suffering is that joy follows after a period of mourning.  His hope fills our emptiness and the purpose of our suffering starts to become clear as we are drawn so much closer to Him.  This year, through all the loss, hope is real to me, and the significance of Jesus' birth and life on this earth holds a special meaning: 

Luk 2:9    And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.Luk 2:10    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.Luk 2:11    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

Have a very blessed Merry Christmas and may God be with you now and throughout the New Year.