When did things change? When did it all get so complicated? Most people can recall a specific moment. They seem to know exactly when everything shifted. While others, well, as hard as they may try, they just can’t seem pinpoint that defining moment that caused everything to change.
Maybe it was subtle. There was no pivotal moment, but you recognize that it is far from the way it you once knew. It’s lost its thrill and magic. It’s heavy and hard. It’s become a burden and not a blessing.
Christmas. It can be a rough season that many want to just survive. They muddle through from Thanksgiving to New Years barely making it. There’s no joy no magic. But rather, a constant pain that only intensifies as the day draws near.
It’s not supposed to be this way. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? Well, that’s what the song says anyway. So why is it so hard? Why has it become such an agonizing, stressful time of year? It seems many folks are on auto pilot. They numbing retreat into survival mode hoping to come through yet another holiday season unscathed.
Nostalgia is an ever-present sentiment that lives large during the season. It can be both friend and foe stirring up dormant memories and emotions from days gone by. We reflect on what once was but now no longer is and the pain runs deep. It hurts.
There is a longing to go back to those golden days of wonder. We close our eyes and reminisce. We drift to places that seem so close, but yet, are really so distant and far away. What once was familiar is now so foreign.
The pain of loved ones who have passed. Severed relationships. Broken dreams. Shattered hearts. Bitterness and betrayal. Loss, loneliness and fear have replaced the yule-tide spirit. And the emptiness runs deep.
And then again, maybe there isn’t any good recollections at all. Perhaps that isn’t your story. Maybe it wasn’t a particular moment or time but rather an ongoing theme of life . You’ve been battered and bruised from the very beginning never experiencing the thrill of hope. And while everyone is eggnogging with their festive sweater and holiday cheer, you simply want to escape and hide.
Why does it have to be this way? Why does it have to be so hard? We know “the reason for the season” but it doesn’t seem to lift the cloud that hovers over lives. We sing joy to the world as shells.
We got it all wrong. You know, Christmas. We seem to fully understand that December 25th has been commercialized and paganized to something unrecognizable. We’ve allowed that and participated in that. We’ve assisted Satan in hijacking Christmas.
But what we don’t get is the Messiah. We don’t understand the paradigm shift that transpired in Bethlehem that perfect holy night. We don’t seem to live in the fullness of what came into the world 2000 years ago. We don’t recognize it or understand it, and we definitely don’t walk in the freedom it brings.
We still seem to be living in the darkness. Now, I’m not saying our past wounds, present hurts, and lonely hearts don’t matter. They do. But at some point, the power of the Messiah has to mean something. It has to become more than a few carols and a candlelight service.
He came to set the captives free. He came to rescue those in bondage. He came to bring comfort to the lonely and broken. He came to give life and life abundant. We know this. Do we believe this?
It’s time to let go. Really let go. It’s time to believe. Really believe in the power of Jesus Christ. It’s time to live and breathe the promises of hope, healing, and restoration.
Let go of the things of the world. Cast your hurts, and cares upon him. He will carry you. He will sustain you. There is newfound hope to the hopeless. Life to the lifeless. Restoration to the broken. And freedom to those held captive.
Free fall into the arms of the Messiah. Allow this Christmas to be different.