During this Christmas season, what are your expectations.? Some of us enter the season with high and lofty expectations. Our magical memories of years gone by cause us to desire even more magical, sugar plum visions of a Norman Rockwell Christmas. A Christmas where everything is just perfect!
Other people are dealing with heartaches in their lives that cause them to lower their expectations and it’s all they can do to just have a little hope. Sadness about those who are no longer with us, or an over-burdensome amount of emotional, mental, or spiritual wounds that seem to fester even more at the holidays. We think about broken relationships. We wonder when our wounds
will heal! Will anyone even notice I’m hurting? When will I finally be able to overcome my issues? How can I return to a healthy relationship with my kids, my spouse, my God?
Some people become very unhappy, even bitter or rude while waiting for circumstances to change. We aren’t a patient people, are we? Sit too long at a stop light. Have someone need a price check while you’re in line. Get stuck two times by the same train. Delays at the fast-food drive in…Delays in getting that new job…we’re not a patient people, are we?
My prayer today is for the downtrodden to not give up. Don’t become cynical this holiday season. Don’t become a Scrooge…, don’t become angry and bitter! Instead, can you wait with hope, knowing God loves you and really does want the best for you, even if that means you’re going through a season of heartache and suffering. Would you trust, pray, and obey God until He brings
resolution?
If you are losing hope, I would remind you of a man in the Bible named Simeon. God promised Simeon he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah. So, Simeon waited…and he waited…and he waited some more. We don’t know how long Simeon waited, but we can assume it was years! And he waited because he refused to lose hope in God. Simeon was patient. He hadn’t become cynical and jaded. He’s not an angry old man, waiting for the Messiah to appear. He keeps waiting and going to the Temple every day with hopes and expectations that he would meet God’s Chosen One. He trusted God, and one day held the baby Jesus in his arms!
Simeon shows us what it’s like to wait on the Lord. When we’re in those seasons of life which are a struggle, waiting isn’t easy. Waiting for answers from the doctor, waiting for healing, waiting for a loved one to return home, waiting for that new job, waiting for the pain to go away.
So, will we trust God by embracing the fact that God knows what He is doing and will heal our pains in His way…in His time? Or will we trust ourselves to do it our way, and to hold onto our heartache? To own it, because we won’t give it to the Son who came to bring us comfort and consolation? The Word tells us that God’s timing is perfect…right? I wish you all a blessed Christmas. Remember it’s all about Jesus!
It’s so good to be your pastor!
In The Lord’s service till the last fish is caught, <><
Pastor Chris
