'Tis the season...
Joy to the world...
It's the most wonderful time of the year...
Peace on earth...
O Come all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant!
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer,
The pressure of these lyrics can be heavy, and sometimes Christmas can sometimes evoke some pretty intense emotions. And sometimes those emotions may not be the pleasant little presents we'd like.
What if we don't feel joyful, cheerful, peaceful, or triumphant?
What if all we feel is fear, anxiety, loneliness, and despair?
What if old wounds of rejection and abandonment are ripped back open, bringing fresh new pain to deal with?
Maybe we are grieving this year the loss of a loved one, the loss of our health, finances, etc.
What if all we feel is heavy sadness, like life is stacked against us?
What if we feel all these things with no real good reason other than that's just how we feel in the season we are in?
May I be frank and vulnerable with you for a moment?
I understand, and it sucks.
I feel it with you this year, and it's a heavy burden.
Just know that it is a burden we don't have to carry alone or at all.
It's a burden that Jesus arrived to carry for us.
We can lay our tears down at his feet.
We can lay all our fears down at the foot of the cross and run away from them.
We can open our hearts and cry out to Him this season; He can handle our messy emotions 365 24/7.
During the holiday season, we often hear the phrase, "Choose Joy." While it may sound easy, it's not as simple as it seems. I know... I am preaching to the choir here. It's hard to make a conscious decision to choose joy when you are feeling empty and numb inside. However, we do have the option to do so if we want to. Fixing our thoughts on positive things can help us choose joy, but it's much easier said than done. After all, negativity feeds negative behaviors and emotions, and positive thoughts have the power to do the same, but for positive behaviors and emotions.
Can I let you in on a little secret?
You don't have to do this alone.
God brought this verse to me this morning, not once, but twice. It's how I know that it's from Him and reminds me of the importance of reading His Word and being in the Christian community.
The first time, I felt Him impressing on my heart that this was the verse I would need to cling to get me through the season I am in. The second was the confirmation of the first heart-felt impression sitting at Church listening to my Pastor talk about joy for Advent.
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8
FIX YOUR THOUGHTS.
All I have to do is change my stinking thinking, and all problems will be resolved!
Ok, ALL my problems may not be resolved. But when I shift my mindset to look at my problems as opportunities with a purpose with unlimited possibilities as I put them in the hands of my Savior, it does become easier. But it starts with surrender.
Remember when I let you in on a little secret that we don't have to do this alone? It's true.
We have the power to control our thoughts, and it's not within our power; it's through the power of the Holy Spirit inside us that we either choose to push away or lean into.
God doesn't call us to mope around feeding our pitiful souls that Satan is trying to taint with poison. God calls us to fix our thoughts on Him, the ONLY true giver of everlasting peace and joy.
The antidote to the poison that Satan tries to feed us is praise. It's how we can flip the switch from negative to positive thinking. Are you going to continue to let the enemy spew poison into your mind that is intended to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10) any peace and joy you have in Jesus?
NO! That would just be foolish, but we tend to do that. Instead, God asks us to praise through the pain to find the peace given to us. Dig deep; I promise it's there. We can seek the world for peace, but nothing will even come close to the everlasting peace that comes from the presence of Jesus. When we search the world for peace and joy, we will come up empty-handed, tired, and worn out from chasing peace from a world that doesn't offer us true, everlasting peace.
⏸️ I want to pause momentarily and have you think back to when someone did you wrong. How did you feel?
Did you want revenge?
Were you mad and want to take them down?
Ya, me too.
So why don't we get this mad at the enemy and want to take him down for doing this to us?
Remember, the antidote to the poison that the enemy tries to give us is praise and thankfulness to the One the enemy is trying to keep us from. Join Team Jesus.
There is a good ending to John 10:10, "My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."
"I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."
John 14:27
We must train our complicated brains to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. We must choose to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
And if you're struggling to do that this year, I get you.
Pray for me as I pray for you!
I have found that when I don't have the words to pray for myself, I am much more productive at praying for others.
I know it seems backward, but it's how God created me to be.
Sometimes, God has to break us before He can rebuild us.
Fix your tear-filled...
anxiety-filled
fear-filled
grief-filled
saddened-filled
heavy burden-filled
thoughts on the One who came to replace them with peace and joy.
It's genuinely what the Holidays are all about, even in the hurting.
I want to leave you with three things for you to put into practice:
Pray through the pain
Praise through the pain.
Proclaim the goodness of God through the pain.
He WILL show up when we can humble ourselves amid our pain. But you need to be intentional about it! And know that regardless of your circumstances, He is with you. You are never alone, abandoned, or forsaken; your tears are never wasted. He catches them all and uses them all to bring future glory to Him. Allow Him to use your tears and witness for God's kingdom.
Joy to the world was sung as the Prince of Peace was born to give us hope.
The Holidays are a time for hope, for Christmas, and you can't have Christmas or hope without the One Special Gift given to us during Christmas.
There is hope. Hope has a name.
The name is Immanuel.
𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓾𝓼.
Immanuel... God with us. Regardless of how we feel, He is with us. He cares for those who are hurting, and He cares for those who are singing with jubilation. I am not diminishing our pain during this Holiday or any day of the year, but He was born for our pain, and that is what Christmas is all about.
He came to heal the broken, so if you feel broken this season and the Holiday hurts... remember He came for you. He left His perfect piece of paradise on His throne to enter into this broken world to take on the burden of our brokenness. Let Him rebuild you.
Do you need prayer?
It's ok to ask. I know how intimidating it can be to ask, but I know how much of a blessing it can also be. If you send in a prayer request, please know they are 100% confidential. The only ones that will know are us three: you, me, and the Lord.
Feel free to send them here: https://kelseymiranda.wixsite.com/kelseymiranda/prayer
If you are looking for a good sermon on joy, listen to this one. It has been a while since I left a Sunday sermon feeling so broken and humbled at the same time. Usually, I walk away from sermons feeling empowered and ready to take on the world. However, this sermon reminded me of how much I need a savior to fix the thoughts in my mind. I am confident this was divinely designed and how God intended it to be.
Comments