The Christmas Season

A very long time ago, a prophet spoke these words, describing a vision he saw of the gift that God was planning for all mankind. Roughly 700 years after Isaiah spoke these words, they were fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. God planned for the salvation of His creation long before we were born and He revealed His plan to the special group of people whom He had prepared as a part of this plan. Jesus didn't just happen to come to us, God didn't just one day say it would be a good idea if Jesus came. His birth, His life and His resurrection were a gift from Our Father which was planned a long, long time ago. What a loving and thoughtful gift!

Yet despite knowing all this, as the month of December starts, I feel the ending of another year approaching and this causes me to think back on what has changed this year and what the new year might bring. The older I get the more this becomes a nostalgic and pensive time for me and the commercialization of Christmas does not help my sense of sadness at the changes I see around me. However, when I was reading my Bible this morning, I found an answer for my year end feeling of sadness and let down.

The LORD our God is an awesome God. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that He has planned things very minutely and carefully and that He has brought His plans to fruition in the fullness of time. When I read the words in the chapter before the promise of the Gift of His Son was recorded, I saw with amazement that God already knew that I (like a lot of other people) would begin to feel this way. Isaiah 8 verse 11 says "For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people". In verse 12, it says "neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid". This is what my feelings boil down to: "fear", a dread of what might happen next in my life or the lives of my loved ones or even in the world around me. Chapter 8 of Isaiah ends with these words: "And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness." What a good description of the depression that lingers behind the joys and gaiety of this season for many people, myself included. God knew we would feel this way!

But read the first word of Chapter 9 and you see God's answer to our fear and sadness: "Nevertheless"! Despite this feeling of the hopeless marching of time, God says "Nevertheless, I have a plan and a gift." After describing the very place that Jesus began His ministry "beyond Jordan, in Galilee" (verse 1), Isaiah is inspired to write these words from Our Father in verse 2: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." These verses, coming as they do just before the promise of Jesus, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given..." show me that God cares for even these small and sometimes petty feelings I have. He knew that many of us would feel this way at this time of year and that as Christians we might feel slightly guilty at feeling like this after all God had done for us. Nevertheless, He directed His prophet to address these feelings as well as to introduce the Joy He had planned for us all.

And how do we find spiritual peace in a land of darkness? Read the second part of the promise in verse 7: "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." We have God's promise, firmly decided, firmly spoken and firmly assured that, because of the Gift of God's own son, we have a place in a Kingdom of Peace that will not end. The key to the peace He has planned for us comes in those first words in Isaiah 8:22 already quoted above: "And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness...". God is revealing to us the answer to the problem of depression especially the kind that hits at this time of the year: don't keep your concentration on earthly things, let your mind and your heart set itself on the things of Heaven which the gift of God's own son opened to us.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

(Colossians 3:1-3 ESV)

So the answer to the "holiday blues" is the same as the answer to the rest of our problems: Jesus! He is truly Wonderful! He really is our greatest Counselor! He is Mighty God and the Everlasting Father all rolled into one! He is our Prince of Peace!

Jesus really is The Greatest Gift Ever Given!