Pastor Chuck’s 2014 Christmas Countdown Blog #5 – I love that the Christ of Christmas understands us and helps us! Many of us are acquainted with the paradox of the Christmas season – it is a time when we are supposed to celebrate hope, love, joy and peace, but if we are honest, sometimes the joy of the Christmas season is overshadowed by pain, loss, depression and hurt. This is really a very tough time of year often filled with loneliness, sadness and grief. In fact, study after study continues to show that during the “holiday season” (Thanksgiving – New Years) depression rates go up, suicide rates go up, and the lonely nights grow even longer. And in many ways, all of our nonstop celebrating can compound the struggles even more. The message of Christmas is this: to people who live in darkness, a light is coming and to people who live in despair, hope is promised. You can’t speak of hope without being honest about the fact that hopelessness that exists. You can’t speak of a savior without acknowledging that the world needs saving. Pain, suffering, grief and loss go hand-in-hand with being human. They are part of the human condition and we can’t ignore that we experience these feelings even during Christmas. What more appropriate time than in this season of the year when we talk about God taking on the human condition to remember that He truly understands how we feel. What an encouragement we have when we remember that Jesus DOES understand us. In Hebrews 4:14-15 we read, “But Jesus the Son of God is our great High Priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us; therefore let us never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses . . . “ So if you find yourself drowning in the “blues” of Christmas, what can you do? Remember four things: 1. LESS IS MORE
To alleviate the pain in our lives, we often self medicate by overeating, over drinking, over working and over spending. These things will temporarily numb the pain but will only cause us more problems in the long run. Remember, when it comes to eating, drinking, working and spending – sometimes less really is more. 2. DON’T WITHDRAW Oftentimes when we get sad, lonely and hurt, we give in to the temptation to withdraw and isolate ourselves. The problem is – this isolation only serves to exacerbate our problems and actually make them worse. At your lowest point, you need people more than ever. Your life is like a bank account – too many withdrawals leave you empty. You need to be making deposits by taking in the love and friendship of the people around you. 3. SERVE AND GIVE The more you focus on yourself and your problems, the more depressed you will become. The greatest antidote to sadness is to find people with needs and reach out to help them. If you are blue, give to others – with your time, money and affection. If you are blue, find a way to help and serve others. Your situation might stay the same – but how you view your situation will change as you begin to focus on others. 4. WORSHIP You will either worry or you will worship – they cannot coexist. When you worry you focus on everything that you don’t have and when you worship, you focus on everything you do have. Worship lifts our eyes up to see beyond our circumstances to our Savior. If you are sad, hurt, angry, depressed, frustrated or fearful – begin to consciously worship the Lord and you will find yourself transformed. Always remember the words of the classic Christmas carol “Come let us adore Him Christ the Lord”. That is what Christmas is all about. So if you find yourself with a case of the Christmas blues, be proactive and take some positive and practical steps to get out of your funk. Don’t overdo it, reach out to others, be generous to those in need and genuinely worship the Christ of Christmas. You may still have the blues but like a pair of well worn jeans, the blues will fade and become lighter and lighter. And I like that!