Christmas may be over…

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and the lights were strung around the tree. Oh, how they twinkled.

And for a few weeks every year, we allow ourselves to see the world painted with smiles, and delight, joy and fun. We see the best of things, we make the most of things. We laugh, we shop, we eat and we open gifts, hoping that somehow in the midst of the season, that hole inside us, that longing for more, will be filled. And somehow, every year, it remains. 

Jesus said, I AM the light of the world. 

And aren’t we so enamored with light? More than a million people gather to see the Rockefeller tree lit in New York City every year. We love light in darkness. We hang twinkle lights every place we dare, and we hope that they will pierce through the shadows in our own souls, and somehow, leave themselves inside us. 

But they don’t. 

They can’t. 

We ask too much of the twinkle light. 

But, God. 

Always the most hope filled two words. BUT GOD. What we see, what we feel, what we know, isn’t all there is. Because God, in His infinite worth, and knowledge and power can do so much more than we could ever ask or imagine. 

How many times have I asked too much of the twinkle light, and forgotten to whom my provision comes? All light points to THE Light. All of it testifies to His glory. 

It’s sad, isn’t it? To take down the lights. To unplug the Christmas tree. The wrapping paper- now crumpled, fills trash bags and overflows dumpsters, and the gifts lie about, covering the floor, the desk, the closet. And somehow, we are not filled with joy, but rather, find ourselves filled with despair, because… it’s all over. The season, the music, the movies, the stockings, the wrapping and the anticipation of it all. And it didn’t fill us. 

But rather, leaves us feeling emptied out. 

The Christmas season promised so much, and yet delivered so little. I love it. You love it. The kids, they love it. But it isn’t enough. 

It was never meant to be. There is only one thing, only One Person who is actually enough. And He is not simply enough for me, but for all of us. 

Jesus. Is. Enough.

But, did I seek Him? Or did I shop? Did I sit and wonder at the miracle of the Almighty becoming a baby in a cold and damp manger? Or did I watch the Grinch on repeat? Did I feast at the table of the King, or did I simply fill my stomach with sugar cookies and hot cocoa? Did I prepare Him room in my heart, or did I decorate my rooms with beautiful things? 

Did I actually miss Christ this Christmas? 

If my overwhelmed heart has anything to say about it, then Yes, I did. I missed Him. The season came and it went just as quick, and now in the aftermath I see the wreckage.

Didn’t He promise to bring peace? Then why do I feel so anxious? Didn’t He promise to yoke me gently and to burden me not? Then why am I so weighted down by the worldly woes? Could it be, that it is because I forgot to stop and to be still in the quiet hours and seek Him? 

Really seek Him with my whole heart? 

Every day, we have choices to make. What to eat. What to wear. What to say. Where to go. And we forget that Jesus, the Almighty God, is a choice we get the privilege and the mercy to CHOOSE. Just ask Joshua. He will tell you, as for me and MY house, we will choose Jesus. 

Do I? 

Do you?

Maybe we haven’t. 

Maybe we didn’t. 

“But this I call to mind and therefore I have HOPE, the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new EVERY morning. Great is His faithfulness.”

-Lamentation 3:21-23

So, today, you get to make a choice. To choose the overwhelming way of the world. Or choose to be still, and to know that HE is God. And you, well, you get to just be a person in need of a Savior. 

And a Friend. 

And a Comforter. 

And a Teacher.

And an Advocate.

And a Helper, A Deliver, A Defender.

Because HE is all of the above. He is everything you need. He is everything you looked to the twinkle lights to be, and the hot cocoa and movies to fill. He is THE One. The Beautiful One you’ve been searching for. 

And He is always available to you. Day or night. At no cost. No charge. No hidden fees. Always FREE. 

Will you stop? 

Stop running from one thing to the next. Stop looking to the world to give you what He longs to give YOU. Stop striving and earning love, stop trying to achieve it somehow. 

Just STOP. 

And breathe. 

And sit. 

And cry. 

And PRAY. 

And watch Him show up for you in this New Year. 

Because, after all, all He ever wanted was YOU. 

Pack away the twinkle lights, and don’t cry over the season gone by. Your hope does not lie there. Instead, remind yourself where your help comes from. Get back in His Word. Make margin in your life to take time to seek His face. 

And go, not to the twinkle lights for beauty, or peace, GO to The Light of the world and feast there, with He who knows you and loves you completely. 

Aren’t you tired? I know you are. I am too. 

But it’s ok to be tired. And it’s ok to not be OK. 

The Light of the world is Jesus. Isn’t that the best news you’ve you heard all day?

Christmas may be over, but CHRIST remains steadfast forever.