Christmas: Jesus is Enough


It’s been a heavy while. There has been betrayal, unkindness, and hurt in our family in the last few months. We have also had some changes in our children’s schools and our network of families we spend time with has shifted. I imagine a lot of people feel the same this year with the isolation (still) of covid and the moves many families have made as a result. The combination of these things with the holiday season leaves an overwhelming emptiness. I’m lonely. It feels dark and hopeless. There is an expectation that every day we should be doing some fun holiday thing. Trolley rides to see the lights, Christmas parties,  meeting Santa, gathering with friends for an outdoor movie. When instead we have a normal evening of dinner and bed, it feels like the gap between what we should be doing and what we are doing is unbearable. 


And the reality is that we have many families around us that we love. We have each other. A lot of people don’t get to enjoy the season this year the way that we do. We have a lovely home, plenty of food, good jobs, and healthy children. It feels like every day Satan whispers in my ear and my heart believes that these things are not enough. But truthfully, even without these things, Jesus is enough. 


Jesus was enough for Mary when God told her that she, an unwed, lowly teenage girl would conceive and bear the son of God. He was enough when there was no room in the inn. He was enough when she and Joseph had to flee their home and escape to Egypt. When it feels like there is no room for you, Jesus is enough. When it feels like everyone has a “tribe” and you are on the outside, you can rest in the arms of Jesus and know that you are in his “tribe”. He was enough for elderly Simeon who waited to die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. He was enough for Anna, living in the temple, fasting and worshiping day and night. 


So I’m going to open my Bible. I’m going to sit at the feet of Jesus this Christmas and let the things of earth grow dim. He is enough for me. He is enough for you.


I know there are big problems. I know there is hunger and homelessness and sickness. I am not trying to diminish these things at all. We need to help our neighbors, we need to change a lot in our hearts and in the way we live out kindness. There is heaviness everywhere. I just want to encourage anyone who feels a little bit like me this season. Anyone who feels like the emptiness is overwhelming. Let God fill it.


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