A Different Kind of Christmas

A song came on the radio that stopped me earlier, I only heard the last verse and it was enough to make me look it up when I got to the office today. Losing someone close to you is always hard, and there is something that makes that so much harder when the holidays show up. My heart goes out to all those broken ones this Christmas season, those trying to figure out how to make this Holiday mean something in the wake of losing a piece of their heart and quite possibly the piece that made Christmas what it is to them. There has been a lot of tragedy around the world recently that I'm sure the grief will be strong across the globe this Christmas.

The first Christmas wasn't pretty or peaceful as our Nativities may look. I'm sure the fear, pain, and unknown was rampant. We see it as a Silent Night, and a peaceful event because we can see the whole picture. We know who Jesus is, and why He came to Earth. We can see the beauty in all the chaos because we can see that this was just where the story began not where it ended.

So this Christmas if you are finding yourself filled with grief, pain, heartache, unknown, or anything but joy, just know that the God of the first chaotic Christmas is still in control. Just as perfect love will cast out all fear, it will cast out the pain and tears. The Alpha is the Omega, the beginning and the end, He can see the whole picture and there is nothing you can possibly be going through right now that is too much for Him. This may be a Different Kind of Christmas for you this year, but don't let your sorrow overshadow the joy that can come at Christmas, it is ok to celebrate and decorate, and enjoy the ones you hold dear. For the one you are missing wouldn't want you to be held back because they aren't here. You don't have to spend this holiday alone, allow yourself to be wrapped in the arms of perfect love where you will find the peace that passes all understand and the healing that your heart needs.

Different Kind of Christmas - Mark Schultz