As I write this post, it’s December 26th and I can’t help wondering what that day feels like to you. Does it look something like the above image? Wrapping paper strewn all over the living room, with toys scattered (and hidden) among the debris. Maybe it looks like this, but nobody’s smiling at this stage!
We all know it can be a crazy time of year, despite our longing for a peaceful, “silent night” type celebration. How are you feeling now, a few days past the holiday?
Exhausted, disappointed, hurt, relieved, lonely, peaceful, grateful, loved? It’s certainly a mixed bag, isn’t it?
My holidays have changed significantly since Dale died – and to a great degree, simply as we get older. Gone are the big gatherings where I often hosted my family and/or Dale’s, complete with full meals and lots of presents.
Holidays are just hard when most of the people you loved the deepest are gone. Many of you reading this will have your own stories of why this season is difficult. We know it isn’t always “the most wonderful time of the year.”
And yet, I am grateful for the beautiful Christmas Eve service at my church, where we sang favorite Christmas carols and some current songs with powerful words. I’m grateful for a message that reminded us that, regardless of what our holiday entailed, we can still have joy if we plug into the ultimate source of that joy – Jesus.
I’m grateful for those who reached out to wish me a Merry Christmas. Grateful, too, for the sweet family that lets me hang out with them for a few hours on Christmas Day.
So, despite the heartache and the loneliness that’s still pervasive during this season, there is also much to be grateful for.
Still, I must confess there are large stretches of these days where I’m simply doing my best to get to the next one. I’m not filled with Christmas joy, nor am I necessarily trying hard to attain it.
But last night, Christmas night, as I was praying, I asked God to fill me with the true spirit of what we celebrate – the birth of our Savior. Jesus, who left the perfection of Heaven to take on the form of a man. Jesus, who came to earth in the lowliest of circumstances, to lead a perfect life of service and sacrifice. Jesus, who ultimately was born to die – to pay the penalty for our sins so we could spend an eternity with him.
These truths I’ve known for decades and for which I remain deeply grateful. But last night, God raised the bar, so to speak. He helped me understand, at a deeper level, the kind of love Jesus showed through this sacrifice.
What relationship comes to mind when you think of the power of love? Love between spouses? A parent and child? Siblings? Even the love we have for our pets?
God reminded me of a love far deeper and more profound than any earthly love. It’s the love found within the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Scripture reveals the Trinity not as a theological puzzle (although sometimes it can appear as such!), but as an eternal relationship of perfect love, mutual submission, and unified mission. The Father delights in the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, and the Spirit joyfully unites and reveals them both — inviting us into that love.
Here’s what John 17:24-26 (NIV) shows us about this incredible reality. This is Jesus’ prayer for believers everywhere, including you and me:
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
This is the linchpin text that deepened my understanding last night of how much God loves us.
God sent his beloved son, Jesus, who came willingly, fully aware of what lay ahead. The perfect love shared within the Trinity was extended to us! Sinful, often ungrateful children who certainly don’t deserve even an ounce of it.
And yet, we are cherished so completely that this perfect love was lavishly poured out upon us.
Can you get your head around the fact that we are loved as completely as the love within the Trinity? The same depth of love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Regardless of what your Christmas looked like, regardless of how you’re feeling in the aftermath, hold tightly to this truth and let it soak deep into your soul.
The most recognized verse in the Bible lays this out perfectly. Read it with fresh eyes today, my friends!
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life.
John 3:16
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