The Worst Christmas was Our Best
An elderly man passed me in the isle in our local grocery store the other day. He glanced over my cart overflowing with food items and toys for my little grandson’s first Christmas. He smiled and said, “I’m glad I don’t have to pay for that.” I smiled back and said, “Well, Praise God for groceries.” I wasn’t being sarcastic. I meant every word of that statement.
My mind quickly went back ten years. Christmas time had become something I dreaded. Every month I found myself trying to figure out which bills I could “shuffle” just to keep the electricity and water on. I hoped that if I paid at least part of the rent it would keep us from being evicted. I scrounged through sofa cushions for loose change hoping to have enough to buy an extra loaf of bread to help us feed our three teenage sons. Christmas just seemed to add to the stress, heart ache and shame of our “barely scrape by” existence. That particular Christmas was during our darkest hour. That year there was nothing under our tree, and there wasn’t going to be.
My husband was having some health issues. He was self employed and we did not have health insurance, or paid sick days. If he couldn’t work then there was no income, period. About a week before Christmas my husband was home alone. He walked from room to room praying, “Lord, what can we give our boys this year?” On the top of his dresser something caught his eye. It was a pair of small wooden shoes. My husband’s father had given them to him years before. They were a precious memento that he had brought home with him from WWII. My husband heard the Lord say to him, “Give these to your son, Ben. Tell him to set them on his desk as a reminder that his steps will be ordered by me.” (Psalms 37:23) Then he turned and saw his grandfather’s Bible. The Lord said, “Give that to Dan. Tell him to meditate on it day and night and he will be successful.” (Joshua 1:8) A small hand tool was also there. The Lord said, “Give this to Brad. Tell him that he is a tool that I am using to rescue people and to keep them safe.” (Isaiah 41:15)
There were a few more things that my husband shared with our sons that Christmas. We all shed tears but they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of hope and promise. We had a brand new understanding of our loving heavenly Father. The Lord did not miraculously deliver us out of our situation. What He did was much more. He loved us through it. He showed us how rich we were to have each other. He gave us focus, vision and the strength to press through. You see, to press through implies movement. Pressing through means there is a destination. We were not stuck in hopelessness for the remainder of our time here on this planet. We were going somewhere. The season of darkness would come to an end. That season was by no means easy to experience. I would not wish times like that on anyone. But I do hope that because of them I can encourage someone else by sharing them as often as I can.
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
My prayer for you this Christmas is simply that you will experience Him in your life more than ever before. May you find strength to carry on through a difficult time. May you rejoice in the promises of His Word and see them evident in your life. May you appreciate what you already have and look ahead expecting great things from our awesome God.
God bless you, my friends; Merry Christmas.