Your boyfriend grabs your hand after class and pulls you aside. You know what’s coming next. He whispers, “I think we need to break up.”
Your mom silently eats her dinner across from you in the cold apartment. The only audible sound is the ticking of the clock behind you. Your mom finally speaks up to say, “Your dad called me today. He’s getting remarried, and he wants you to go to the wedding next week.”
Sitting at your grandmother’s bedside, you lean in as she kisses the top of your forehead. “You know how much I love you, don’t you?” she says weakly. “Well, you need to know that it’s time for me to go home now.”
Those scenarios are fictional, but perhaps they feel familiar to you. You may be facing a variety of unexpected situations this Christmas—a breakup, difficult family situation, death of a loved one, financial burden, health issue, church dispute, challenging move, betrayal by a friend, doubts and depression, tension at school, or something else. Christmastime is supposed to be a joyous season, but you don’t have any joy right now.
Christmas Is—and Was—This Way
You’re not the only one facing a challenge at Christmas. From the time Jesus entered the world—and even before that—it was against Him. Perhaps your Christmas feels suddenly chaotic and depressing. Jesus’ first Christmas was, too.
Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, which means she likely faced hostility for being pregnant with Him. He was born in a stable because there wasn’t enough room in the inn. After He was born, His parents had to flee with Him to Egypt because Herod tried to kill Him.
Jesus could’ve been born to an already-married couple with a perfect family situation. He could’ve been born in a beautiful home instead of an animal stable. He could’ve had a safe childhood, free from any harm. Instead, God let Jesus enter our humanness. Our brokenness. Our pain.
And as Jesus got older, He didn’t abandon the broken world—He continued to live among us. Though He didn’t sin, He frequently engaged sinners. He didn’t hide from the world. Instead, He sought it.
Christmas Is Not the End
Maybe you feel like Christmas wasn’t supposed to be this way. Maybe Christmas was supposed to be like the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life—with you surrounded by family, friends, and oodles of money. But instead, you feel abandoned and heartbroken.
Take heart, friends. Our Christmases on this earth aren’t the end of the story.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)
Christmas isn’t the end of Christ’s story, and it’s not the end of ours either. Although Christmas is a very significant holiday, we still celebrate it in a broken world. However, because Christ chose to enter our broken world—and because He died to save us—we can experience true, complete healing in Heaven.
I understand that your Christmas may be unexpectedly difficult this year. It’s hard to celebrate something so wonderful when you feel so upset. But Jesus can carry that burden. He already carried your sin by sacrificing His life on the cross. Without Christmas, He wouldn’t have entered our fallen world and saved us from that fallenness.
I hope that you let that truth sink in. I also hope you have a merry Christmas!
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 