2020 was a crazy year, and 2021 has been pretty chaotic too. As we slowly transition back into what a "normal" life looks like in this day-and-age, we still have a lot of hurdles to jump through. But despite all the darkness, all of the hard days, and all of the sleepless nights, we made it. We made it to the end of another hard year. But as we look back, I think we're going to realize that these past few years have grown and shaped us like nothing else could. We have an incredible amount of things to be thankful for, but I know this Christmas is still going to be hard for some of us. With the holiday season comes a whole range of emotions. Maybe someone close to you has passed away this year, or you're mourning the fact that certain protocols are preventing you from being home with your family for Christmas. Whatever the case may be, this season is probably difficult for you.
The past two years have taken a lot of things away from us. Perhaps it's even stolen our joy and all sense of hope. Even in my own family, I know this Christmas is going to be difficult. My grandpa passed away earlier this year, and I recognize that this holiday season will probably be challenging for my family. I've seen loss, but I've also seen growth. I've seen sorrow, but I've also seen joy. With every trial that comes, there seems to be a mixture of both pain and an invincible joy. It seems that in the darkness, there's always a light.
Christmas is the perfect example of that.
We see these feelings of both pain and joy in the story of Jesus. When Mary is told that she will give birth to the Son of God even though she was a virgin, there must have been so many emotions going through her. At that moment, I'm sure she was afraid, and unsure why God would choose her for such a daunting task. In her eyes, she was nothing special. She was a young girl from Nazareth who was engaged and getting ready to begin her life. Suddenly, her whole world got completely interrupted. On one hand, I'm sure she was disappointed that all of her plans were about to be changed. But on the other hand, she was probably so filled with joy that she would give birth to the promised Messiah. She would give birth to the One who takes away the sins of the world. There was pain, and there was joy.
Now more than ever, we can all relate to Mary. We're all living in between the pain and the joy of this Christmas season. We're all living in the middle of anticipation and waiting. In this time, let's choose to refocus our gaze onto Jesus, and the joy that comes from Him. 2020 and 2021 were hard years, but we've made it this far. Now let's find a place where we can let both pain and joy thrive. Find some time in the quiet and stillness of Christmas to look to Jesus. The pain that this year has brought is real, but the joy that comes from Jesus is more real. Joy isn't a feeling, it's a choice, and it's only found in Jesus. And at the same time, grief tends to be a choice as well. We can choose to be swallowed up by sorrow, or we can mourn while still remembering that there is hope.
The choice is yours, as it is mine. Let's let pain and joy thrive this year while keeping Jesus at the center of it all. He sees you in your sorrow, and He sees you in your joy. He'll help you get through it all. Francesca Battistelli says it this way in her song "Behold Him," "In your silent night/When you're not alright/Lift your eyes and behold him/Feel the thrill of hope/You are not alone/In this moment, behold him."
Grace Chaves has been a fan of all things Christian music since 2016. She is NRT's news editor, and one of NRT's youngest writers. Homeschooled, Grace is an author, loves Jesus, concerts, and road trips. (Photo Credit: cottonbro from Pexels)
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