Devotionals

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Phil 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Can I be really frank without you feeling threatened or guilty?

Now, I have a family who loves me, and they are not failing or neglecting me. Yet, as I face another holiday season, I have to admit I face it with a certain amount of dread and sadness. Each year since my divorce, I got through the holidays, “driving on fumes” emotionally, jealous of those who have spouses and family, who go to sleep and wake up with them, mourning a loss not so much personal as logistical. Then I get depressed over the smallness and selfishness of my soul for being jealous and feeling sad just because I’m alone, as if it’s all about me. Well, to some extent it is: I’m the problem! This year, I want to approach the holidays far more proactively, without experiencing the ever-deepening sense of loss, dysfunction, and the ugly jealousy that seems to resurrect and haunt my steps through this season.

I want to move through – travel – through the holidays in a godly and joyful manner, in a way that will bring honor to the name of the Lord and to the healing He has brought me, and that will be a step closer to the kind of person God created me to be.

Looking at scripture, I find other travelers on a journey to find the Christ child, the way of peace and reconciliation with God, to find joy unspeakable, angelic and musical rapture in the sky. I also see the tense juxtaposition of riches and poverty, of dignitaries and blue collar, of Holy God and sinful humankind, of stables and inns, of mangers and palaces, of dreams and waking, of angels and earth, of utter fear and joy unspeakable.

So we will look at – and press on with – the travelers of Christmas, those who left the comforts of home to find the God of all Comfort.

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