Yoder: Christmas is Not Happy for Everyone
By Kathy Yoder
Christmas is not a happy time for everyone. For some, when they see the beautiful card commercials on TV with the happy families getting together to celebrate and exchange gifts, they don’t smile and say, “Oh, isn’t that sweet.”
They look at the commercials and an aching sadness rises up in their hearts. Maybe that’s you.
Maybe you’ve never had a family like that. A caring one that’s happy to spend time together. Maybe your family fights all the time. Maybe you’re disowned from your family. Or maybe, to save your own life, you’ve had to walk away, knowing that whatever this is, it’s not a real family wrapped up in love. It’s a sad battleground for pain and rejection.
Maybe no matter how hard you work, you just can’t get ahead of the bills. You know that Christmas morning for your children, who are great kids and deserve the best, will not be picture perfect with lots of gifts. You worry what it will be like when your children go back to school and hear about the bounty of others.
Maybe someone you love is sick and you’re afraid for the future. For their future. You don’t know what lies ahead and it terrifies you. Maybe your loved one has a mental illness and they can’t seem to get them the help they need. Your roller coaster life with them has few ups and many downs. You wish a good life for them, but you don’t know where to turn.
Maybe someone you love is gone. Someone who was your entire family; your entire world. You see images of couples together, wishing you had one more Christmas with your loved one. And knowing that just one more would never be enough, but you’re willing to take it.
Maybe you look at others’ children and wonder what your own child would be like at this age. What they would be doing now. How different they would look. You long for that special laughter that only they had. Their quirky sense of humor. Their incredible kindness. And there’s a loneliness for that child who will always remain the same age. The age they were when their life was cut too short.
No, Christmas is not happy for everyone. It’s not a perfect Christmas card scene portraying that everything’s right in the world. Our world is far from perfect.
And it wasn’t perfect for Joseph and Mary, either. Mary was young, pledged to marry Joseph when the angel of the Lord told her she was going to give birth. We see that moment portrayed by adorable children in Christmas pageants throughout our lives, but when you think about it, how terrifying for young Mary, living in a society when pregnancy before marriage was a taboo. A horrible disgrace. She had to walk firmly, solidly on feet of faith. So did Joseph. He also had to believe what the angel told him. That this child was special and that he was all part of God’s plan.
Then they had to travel to Bethlehem to be counted. Can you imagine what it must have been like? Mary, very pregnant, traveling on rough roads away from her home. Not knowing when she was to give birth, but realizing that it was much sooner than even she thought. Joseph, frantically looking for a place to take her. But finding no place for his betrothed to rest her weary head. There’s no room in the Inn. Do you think that at this time Joseph asked, “Really, God? No comfortable place to give birth. What? Is she supposed to give birth in the streets? It’s too late to go into the fields. What should we do? Help us, Lord.”
I imagine Joseph looking up and seeing the stable right in front of him. That barn must have looked pretty good by then. The lowly animals had a front row seat to one of the three greatest events that ever occurred on this earth. Both involved the same person. The baby born that day in Bethlehem. The day that Heaven came down to earth and blessed us with the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Emmanuel. God with us.
If Christmas is not a happy time for you, hold onto the One who is the star of the Christmas story. Jesus. The Son of God sent here to redeem us from our sins so that one day we will have a place to belong for eternity in Heaven. But eternity doesn’t start the moment we walk into Heaven. “Eternity begins the moment,” as Corrie ten Boom says, “that we put our weak hand in the strong hand of Jesus.”
Then use that hand to reach out to others. If you see someone struggling this Christmas Season, ask them how they are and then listen, really listen to them. Offer to include them in your family celebrations and make them feel like they belong. Give to someone who is in need. Pray for others. Be thankful. And remember, love is a verb.
Kathy Yoder is a devotional writer and Christian author. She may be reached at kathyyoder4@gmail.com and Kathyyoder.com.
