We don’t like to talk about grief at Christmas, but for so many, this is their reality. Perhaps someone you know and love has suffered great loss this year and, for them, this Christmas will be painful. I’ve been there. I’ve watched others celebrate with family, while my only child lay in a grave hundreds of miles away. I’ve spent a Christmas in bed, losing yet another pregnancy. I lost custody of the precious little foster child we’d had since birth—the one we had already adopted in our hearts—one very dark Christmas eve. I spent a Christmas watching my baby sister lose her fight with cancer. And last year, I faced my first excruciating Christmas without the man who was supposed to be mine for another 25 years.
By God’s grace, I’ve also had many Christmases filled with joy, blessings, friends and family. But no matter how merry we are, there will always be moments of nostalgia for those who are missing from our table. And so there should!
All that, to say this: let’s be sensitive to those who are hurting this season. Instead of judging them with our “encouragement,” we need to bathe them in prayer and blanket them with compassion. It’s true, Christmas is a joyous time for all who have been redeemed by the Child whose birth we celebrate. We do have much for which to be thankful!
They know these things. Let’s not add to their pain by minimizing it.
So, to our friends who are knee-deep in the slough of grief this year, please know this: you are not alone. We have a Savior who understands our pain and offers His comfort and peace. He willingly chose to set aside His glory to walk among us. He bore the weight of our sin, forsaken by His Father and those He came to save. God-in-flesh felt the sting of death so He could offer us hope! Hope that death itself has been defeated and has no dominion over us. Hope that sorrow is just for a season and joy will come in the morning. Hope that one glorious day, those who trust in Him will join a celebration of His redemption that will last for all eternity… a celebration that our beloved ones are already enjoying.
And one day, because Christmas happened, that baby in the manger will wipe all tears from our eyes.
12/18/2022