A Blue Christmas?
Christmas parties, tidings, cards, decorations, lights, joyful songs, and presents should put a large grin on your face and a pep in your step, but what if you’re not feeling it? What if the joy of Christmas only magnifies your pain? Depression runs high over the holidays, so much so that it's received its own nickname, Holiday Blues.
We often expect Christmas to make us happy, but Christmas doesn't fill us. Christ does. The blues can feel like you’re on the outside looking in on the festivities. Christmas can be lonely, especially if there’s been a death of a loved one. Psalm 34:18 tells us, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those with a contrite spirit.” Immanuel means God with us. This is the true meaning of Christmas—God being with us—and specifically, God being with you. God coming to earth as a human child so he’d understand and relate to us was a gift, but Jesus also brought eternal life for those who accept the gift of His love.
If you suffer from the blues, you are not alone. Elijah suffered from depression. After he called down fire from heaven in a miraculous display of God’s power, Jezebel threatened to take his life, so he ran and sat under a juniper tree and asked God to take his life. God instead sent an angel to feed him and restore his spirit (1 Kings 19:2-8).
Hannah desired above all else to have a child of her own. Many years she’d spent hoping and praying, but each month the telltale sign of blood meant that her womb remained empty. At the temple, she wept so hard and prayed with such earnestness that Eli the priest believed she was drunk. God saw her pain and heard her prayers. Hannah conceived and Samuel the Prophet was born (1 Samuel 1:1-18).
David and his men had returned to Ziklag to discover the camp had been burned and all the women and children had been kidnapped. 1 Samuel 30:4 says that David and his men “wept until they had no more strength to weep.” His men were about to stone David because they were bitter about their missing families and seeking retribution. Verse six says, “And David was greatly distressed.” But verse six continues with, “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
Mary had every reason to be depressed and anxious. Her husband was about to divorce her. Her family would have to send her away or their reputation would suffer. She was pregnant without a husband and without means. But she trusted God, and that made all the difference. Mary held her joy and sorrow together from the manger to the cross.
God doesn’t withhold His goodness during the pain of grief. He mourns with us. He comforts us with His presence and kindness. His goodness sometimes comes in unexpected forms. You can still thank Him, still trust Him, still be grateful for who He is.
We can grieve and still act in obedience to God because God’s ultimate plan still works together for our good. Joy and sorrow may be opposites, but they don’t cancel each other out. Combined, they draw us closer to God.
Trust God to see you through to the other side. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 states, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” When you feel hard pressed, perplexed, and struck down, cry out to God. He hears you. He knows your pain, and He draws near to the brokenhearted. Crawl up into the Father’s lap and let Him collect your tears, because His joy will come in the morning.
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” Psalm 56:8
“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5