Fighting for Christmas

 

I’ve had to fight for Christmas this year. 

Everything about this holiday season has been hard. Each day, it seems, brings a new disappointment. The fun of in-person shopping and gift selection? Gone. No days dedicated to wandering through shops searching for that perfect something. This year I’m scrolling instead of strolling. 

Half my decorations remain in their tubs. Why bother putting them all out if no one will see them? No cozy holiday parties. No drop in visits. No lingering over a warm mug of cider catching up with visiting friends. This year we’re zooming instead of rooming. 

Even the annual church Christmas caroling (six feet apart and masked) got rained on. Cold rain. Frigid temperatures. Miserable conditions. Really? 

And the special music for Sunday’s service? Cancelled due to a COVID-19 exposure. 

This morning, in an effort to push back the gloom, I lit a Christmas-tree-scented candle. I expected Balsam and Cedar to infuse my home with holiday cheer. Five minutes later, an acrid smell filled my nostrils. 

What in the world is wrong with that candle? I thought. It smells horrible. Do candles expire? It’s never smelled like that before. 

I followed the scent to its source—a brightly burning philodendron leaf dangling above my Yankee Candle. Mindful of the toddler’s extraordinarily long reach, I’d placed the candle away from the edge of the counter and a bit too close to the trailing philodendron. 

Did you know ivy is flammable and burning philodendron stinks? 

I wonder if Mary’s first Christmas seemed more like burning ivy than Balsam and Cedar? 

Certainly her year hadn’t gone as planned. 

She’d expected a wedding surrounded by her friends and family. Instead she got a rushed ceremony far from the eyes of gossiping townspeople. She anticipated a honeymoon year or two before she and Joseph began their family. Instead she got an unplanned pregnancy that no one, not even her fiancée, celebrated (except, perhaps, the angels in heaven). 

I’m sure she expected to spend the final days of her pregnancy in seclusion and preparation. Instead she dragged her burgeoning belly seventy miles over dusty roads to satisfy a government mandate. 

And then, the ivy caught fire—no room in the inn. No place to lay her contracting body down to rest. No midwife. No circle of comforting friends. No mother to hold her hand. Just a frightened husband and a stable full of stinky livestock. 

But instead of going up in flames, Mary’s first Christmas shone with a heavenly light. The babe the weary world had longed for slipped silently from her womb and into Joseph’s trembling hands. 

The sky burst open, and heaven rejoiced. 

“Behold,” the angel said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). 

A Savior. 

Certainly not the announcement the shepherds expected. They’d settled down in the warm grass planning to doze among the sheep until morning. They anticipate a quiet night, followed by an equally quiet day, much like all the rest. An occasional coyote to chase off, perhaps, but nothing earth shattering. 

Then the sky exploded, and the world changed forever. Is it any wonder they left their sheep and raced into town? 

"Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." 

I find it interesting that God didn’t give the shepherds an address to plug into their GPS. Just two clues. And not very good ones: “You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). 

God made them hunt for their Savior. I suspect they peered into every barn, stable, and cave in town. They nudged cattle away from their feeding troughs and rustled through hay bales. Wrapped in cloths. Lying in a manger. 

 “And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe” (Luke 2:16). 

This year I’ve found it harder to sift through the straw of our circumstances and find the Savior. Like the shepherds, I’ve expended effort and energy. I’ve searched for Him in unlikely places. 

I suspect you have, too. 

In the shadow of disappointment. 

In the uncertainty of unemployment. 

In the chaos of conflict. 

In the despair of heartbreak. 

In the misery of sickness. 

In the valley of death. 

Yet when we’ve looked, we’ve found Him. 

A Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

Right where He said He would be. 

“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart,” God promised in Jeremiah 29:13. 

This Christmas, even if your holiday season smells more like burnt philodendron than Balsam and Cedar, I hope you’ll look for Jesus. 

And when you find Him, do what the shepherds did: 

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20).

 

 If you’re reading by email and can’t see the video, click here to watch For King and Country's, O Come O Come Immanuel. 

Christmas is fast approaching. Wouldn't you love to knock out a chunk of your Christmas shopping and impact your loved ones for eternity?

Would you like to give an extra-special gift? 

One that will:

*refresh a person's faith?

*encourage someone to explore the Bible? 

*inspire busy women to get to know God better?

*unlock uncommon verses and awaken interest in God's Word?

*jumpstart your quiet time?

*make a great companion to your 2021 devotional reading?

Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible is the book you're looking for.  Spotlighting uncommon verses and pairing them with inspiring stories, Refresh Your Faith is the cure for spiritual boredom and apathy.

I'd be honored if you'd order a copy for yourself or gift it to your friends this holiday season. If you live in the Columbia, SC area, I'd love to inscribe copies for you. Reply to this email, and I'll be in touch. 

If you're out of the area, Refresh Your Faith is on sale right now at Our Daily Bread. It's also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christian Book.com.

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Without a Heavenly Choir, Can You Sing this Song?

Imagine what it would be like to be a believer during a period when God hadn’t spoken in 400 years. In a country that had always been led first by God’s voice itself and then by prophets and priests who spoke on God’s behalf, this would be disheartening and faith-stretching. This was the setting for the third and final song in our four-part “Songs of Christmas” series. 

In the first post, The Songs of Christmas, we learned how music touches the deepest part of our souls. In Part 2, “What Silence Can Teach Us this Christmas,” we learned from Zechariah how periods of intentional silence can lead us to greater faith and a deeper awareness of what God is doing in the world. In Part 3, "Mary's Song Can Be Our Song Too, we took an up-close look at Mary, the mother of our Lord and learned how her two-part song could be our song, too. 

Today, we’ll look at the final singer in our Christmas choir – one that is, literally, a choir – a choir of angels. Perhaps the most famous of the Christmas story songs, the angels’ song to the shepherds, found in Luke 2:10 – 14, is a song of pure joy. 

Listen, if you don’t already have it memorized: 

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 

Don’t you LOVE those words? Like a celebration after a championship win, they crackle with excitement and triumph: GOOD TIDINGS, GREAT JOY, A SAVIOR, GLORY, PEACE, GOOD WILL! 

Who wouldn’t want to sing a song like that? 

But how did this triumphant, victorious song begin? Do you remember? “Fear not.” As a matter of fact, each of the songs came with a prelude that said, “Fear not.” When the angel spoke to Zechariah, he said, “Fear not.” 

When Gabriel appeared to Mary, he said, “Fear not.” And when the heavenly host split the sky, the first words in their heavenly song was, “Fear not.” 

Why? Because angels are scary? Yes. 

But because life is scary, too. 

If I asked for a show of hands, I bet many of us would confess to being afraid. Afraid of being alone. 

Afraid of bad health or of getting older. 

Afraid there won’t be enough money to pay your bills, send your kids to college, or make it through retirement. 

Afraid of losing a loved one. 

Afraid of cancer, terrorism, or war. 

Afraid that a wayward child might never return. 

Afraid for the future of our country, our children, and our grandchildren. 

Afraid of dying. 

We live in a scary world. But the angels’ message 2,000 years ago wasn’t just for the shepherds, it was for all people: “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior!” And this Savior came with a promise: 

We find it in Isaiah 43:1-3:

But now, this is what the LORD says -- "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 

Every day we cross paths with people who are afraid. Many don’t know the Prince of Peace. 

They don’t have the confidence that comes from knowing the God who holds our lives in his hands. 

They don’t know the Savior who promises never to forsake us, to walk beside us all of our days, and to one day take us to heaven to live with him forever. 

And if they do know him, sometimes they need to be reminded that the same God who saved them can also keep them. This is where our song can make a difference. 

And when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds (Luke 2:17). 

The shepherds’ assignment is our assignment, too. Go and tell. 

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen,” As we glorify and praise God and tell all the things we have heard and seen to those around us, their song becomes ours, and the gift goes on. 

This Christmas, I hope you’ll touch the deepest part of people’s hearts and share the joy of song with others. The song of belief, that comes out of intentional silence, like Zechariah. The song that tells of what God is did for us and is doing through us, like Mary. And the song of joy that announces that the Savior of the world has come, like the angels and shepherds. 

“FEAR NOT,” we join them in singing, “for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” 

 Now it’s your turn. If you’ve followed the series all the way through, which has been your favorite song? Which do you plan to sing this Christmas season? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts. If you’re reading by email, click HERE to visit Hungry for God online and leave a comment.


 Dear Hungry for God friends,

I suspect there are quite a few busy women on your Christmas list. Friends, co-workers, fellow church members, and your children's teachers, coaches, and babysitters, to name a few.

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