When the Holidays Become Hard

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him…..Matthew‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives…John‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Christmas was magical as a kid! I loved this time of year and how it made me feel growing up. The comfort of the holiday cartoons and movies we would wait to re- broadcast every year, the boxes of the same decorations, the tree, the nativity set up….it was all so familiar, comforting, and exciting. As we get older, as things change, life can wear on us and what used to feel like such a great time of year can lose its luster. Loss of loved ones, life stresses and brokenness in our life can make this time of year hard and sad and filled with pain. We can change our focus to why we celebrate. We hear and we say that Jesus is the reason for the season…..so how do we capture the heart of the real reason? We can do what the wise men did and worship. They were so excited about our savior that was born bringing hope to the world!

Worship means to adore and revere. Adore means to love and respect. Revere means to feel deep admiration. This season, I choose to focus on the heart of the season. The love that Jesus showed us through his life and death here on earth is worth our worship…….taking time to show Him how much we adore, respect, love and admire Him. When we choose to change our focus to Jesus, we do things differently. The gifts we give and the meals we share change meaning. The love we share and give to others is so much more meaningful and rich and real. Peace rules when we worship, He is the prince of peace and giver of hope! As we spend time with Him through worship all the things that make the season lose its luster will be refocused on the hope and peace Jesus came to bring.

Thank you Jesus for coming here to earth and living a life that was blameless so you would be the ultimate pure sacrifice through your death on the cross covering all my sin. When emotions rise up this season, I choose to come to you and worship you with gratitude for the reason we celebrate this season — our salvation through you. You give us peace and hope! Thank you! Amen!

Illustrations by Haley Punjak