When Christmas is Hard

In my senior year of high school, my family was celebrating the holidays and preparing for Christmas much as we had every other year. The house was decorated, presents purchased, wrapped and under the tree, groceries being laid in for holiday feasts and parties being attended. Everything changed for us in an instant that holiday when my fifteen year old only brother was suddenly killed in an accident three days before Christmas.

Having a funeral for a teenager is never easy, but something becomes extra difficult when you have to rush in order to complete it before Christmas Eve. The shock of the loss echoed not only through my family, but throughout our small town. Some students, who were my friends at the high school, were unable to complete their exams as they dealt with the shock of what had occurred. Students at the junior high had to deal with the blow of coming to school and looking at an empty seat that had just the day before been full.

Our church was a large community in a smaller town. Not only did they struggle with the loss of my brother, but we also lost a young mom of three small children to cancer that same weekend. The pain of it all seemed too much to bear. These were the circumstances my pastor had to face that Christmas Eve when he stepped in the pulpit.

It is difficult to imagine the task Bro. Wilson had as he looked on our congregation. What do you say in a season that is supposed to be filled with joy yet is reeking with so much pain? Though I cannot give you exact quotations these many years later, I will never forget the message he brought that day.

Christmas is not always a time of joy. Sometimes it is a day of pain. But whether it is a day of pain or a day of joy, there is something we must never forget. Jesus still came. Jesus still comes. In the midst of our brightest shining moments or in the midst of the darkest pain, Jesus comes.

So where does Christmas find you this year? Are you struggling with estrangement from a loved one, unemployment, missing a spouse or child who is away from home, serious illness, loss of a loved one or a difficulty that no one knows but you? Do the carols that once brought joy to your heart bring tears to your eyes this season? May I encourage you today as Bro. Wilson encouraged me those many years ago? Wherever Christmas finds you, Jesus still comes. And because He came, your pain is not in vain. Nor is it the end of your story. Jesus came to die and pay the price for the wrongs that separate us from God. Because He came, we can accept His payment for the bill we owe. And when we accept that payment, this is what we will be a part of one day:

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their
Shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:17 (NIV)

And Christmas will be hard no more.