Holiday Hurt: Finding Hope In Christ

The season of Advent and Christmas are typically some of the most joyful times throughout the year. It is a time when people come together, enjoy family and friends, and most importantly for the Christian, it is a time where we celebrate the birth of the Savior, Jesus. Most of us probably have warm feelings of nostalgia from Christmases long ago in our childhood and the memories which accompany them. However, for many, myself included, Christmas can also be a time of pain where perhaps old wounds are reopened. For many celebrating the holidays is a desperate time where there is a longing for healing, relief, and even for pain to disembark. It doesn’t matter why, what matters is that this pain and hurting is real and valid. There are times in life that make the holidays difficult. Perhaps the loss of a loved one, not having positive memories from Christmas for a variety of circumstances, financial troubles and burdens, or maybe it is just the fact that we are waiting between the already and the not yet. The season of Advent is a reminder that we as Christians are here waiting in a place that is not our home for the hope of Christ’s return, when all things will be made new. Perhaps Cindy Bultema captures this best by saying:

How do we make it through the “most wonderful time of the year” when we’ve lost our jolliness and we don’t want to “jingle all the way”? Let’s cling to Truth. And God’s Truth reminds us that, no matter the size of our holiday mess, we are not alone. From the beginning, Christmas has been messy. If scratch-and-sniff Bibles were a thing, we would smell the stench when we read about the first Christmas in Luke 2. Unlike the beautiful scenes from children’s story Bibles, Jesus’ birthplace was a dirty, stinky manger. Jesus was born in a mess. Think about it: Jesus Christ, Immanuel, which literally means “God with us,” chose to be born in a mess. And now Jesus promises to be with us always, even in our mess. One of the verses I clung to during my painful, messy Christmas was Hebrews 10:23, which says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Bultema 2021)

The fundamental truth is that we live in a profoundly broken world. Agony is our constant companion and we constantly seek out ways to dampen the sting of sin and death. However, only the Christian has any real solace in doing so. We are image bearers of the Most High God, and we eagerly groan to be forever reunited with God on high. We are citizens of Heaven and as such, we are living as those in exile while here on earth. My church, during this season of Advent, has been systematically working through the text of Romans 8. If you are unfamiliar, this is a text that has lots to do with waiting. We wait for the day when being heirs with Christ is reality. While we are already adopted, we wait for the culmination. 

Romans 8:15 says this, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

This crying out to God as Abba Father is not meant to be read like a child cooing for their dad, but rather it is an implicit groaning. It is a crying out of desperation that we long for the return of Christ and for the day when there is no more pain, crying, death, or brokeness. My pastor worded it this way, “Waiting is the fundamental posture of the Christian.” We wait for Christ’s return because of what that means for the Christian. Keith Mathison puts it beautifully when he writes:

“The second coming of Christ will also involve the reversal of the curse that was placed on creation at the time of the fall. The creation will no longer groan under the weight of the curse. It will be set free from its bondage to decay (Rom. 8:18–25). All things will be made new. There will be no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more pain, for all of these things will have passed away (Rev. 21:1–8). The enemy Satan will be defeated and judged, no more to accuse and attack the people of God (20:7–10).” (Mathison 2007)

This is why we celebrate the season of Advent. We wait between the first advent and the second. This is also why for the Christian, no matter what the circumstance may be in our lives that causes grief or pain, we can and should display joy. Joy and thanksgiving are the fundamental attributes which help us to fight off the hardships of life. We can always offer thanks to God for the gift of salvation, but we can also offer thanks for the difficulties we face. This is obviously difficult as it seems to go completely contrary to our natural state of mind and posture, but it is wildly freeing. Perhaps, in this Christmas season you find yourself remembering little for which to be thankful, then hear the words of Paul:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? - Romans 8:31-35

God’s eternal love for us never waivers or dissipates. It is never less than we need or unavailable to us as Christians. That is truly what gives us not only a future hope, but a thankful heart and joyous soul. So during this season, be mindful that while we are not promised an easy or necessarily happy life, we do have Jesus and He is enough. John 16:33 says this, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We do not put our hope in ourselves or in others to dig us out the pit we sometimes fall into, but we put our hope, devotion, obedience, and thankfulness in the One who has promised to leave or abandon us. 

During Advent and Christmas, it is ok to hurt, but be mindful that even in the pain there is a Savior who intercedes on our behalf. If you know someone who is hurting during the holidays, reach out and encourage them. I do not mean the kind of flimsy encouragement which offers not real hope, but I am speaking of the encouragement which the first advent offered: God is with us. This is not hyperbole or suggestive thinking, it is beautiful truth. Remind those who are hurting, even yourself, that Christ came and crushed the head of the serpent, and there is endless joy in knowing Him. 

References

Bultema, Cindy. 2021. “When the Holidays Are Hard.” Proverbs 31 Ministries. https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2021/12/02/when-the-holidays-are-hard.

Mathison, Keith. 2007. “The Coming of the Kingdom by Keith Mathison.” Ligonier Ministries. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/coming-kingdom.