No Gloom!

December 3, 2020

No Gloom!

I am trying to get my heart in a good place for Christmas. 

It’s tough this year. 

My wife and I will be alone; our daughters and son-in-law will not be home at Christmas, our mothers are not able to travel, and our siblings are busy with their families.  It’s OK to have a quiet Christmas so we can stay focused on the amazing love of Jesus and the tender love of my wife.

It’s tough this year.

Children’s Christmas programs are all on-line, Craft Fairs are not happening, and Christmas Eve celebrations look very different.  It’s OK to do things in a different way so we can stay focused on the birth of the Savior and the incredible grace of God the Father.

It’s tough this year.

I am hearing a lot of doom and gloom talk going around.  If I did not know better, I would think the sky was really falling.  At the same time, I know that for a lot of different reasons things are difficult for a lot of people.

Our prayers are often filled with as much anguish as our souls.  It’s not easy for many of us to get our heart in a good place for Christmas.  And yet, we know this is not the first time that it has been easy to slip into a gloomy place.

God’s people had been oppressed and abused to the point they felt helpless and hopeless.  Doom and gloom was imbedded deep in their heart and mind and soul.  When it seems things could not get any more difficult, the Lord God gives His people a promise.

In Isaiah 9:1 we hear; “But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish.”  The King of Kings is coming!  The anguish will come to an end!  A Savior will be born!  There will be no more gloom! 

The Son of God will deliver us and save us and rescue us.  The Son of God will come to release the shackles of anguish and lift the burden of gloom.  The Son of God will come as a Wonderful Counselor.

In Isaiah 9:6 we hear God’s promise; “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

I need Jesus to be my Wonderful Counselor this Christmas.  I have been in deep anguish over how to lead, how to live, and how to love during Covid.  There are parts of some days when gloom hangs over me like a heavy blanket. 

It would be easier to give up or give in than reach out my hand to our Wonderful Counselor.  I need the child born in Bethlehem to be my Wonderful Counselor.

I imagine you know someone who needs Jesus to be born in their life as the Wonderful Counselor.  Take a moment during the next week to listen and care about their story of gloom and doom.  Take a moment to pray for, and maybe even with, them for the Wonderful Counselor to listen to them, care for them, and rescue them. 

When they experience our Wonderful Counselor’s compassion and comfort they will take delight in the Lord.

Take delight in the Lord!

Doug