Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Christmas brings with it great meaning and for some great difficulty.  It's the time when our losses are are heart felt once more, and the changes that have come with those losses, are emphasized.  This is especially true when attending family gatherings and parties, or in some cases being alone. For me, the reminder of what Christmas is really about, makes the difference between sadness and peace.

I find it interesting that in the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," it speaks of "tidings of comfort and joy." Comfort is what it brings to me, that God loved us so much that He sent a part of Himself as a man to save us all. There is a  wonderful assurance of heaven after this short life, in which we will all be fully healed in His presence. There were times when I felt mad at God for what he let me go through in my life, but look at what Jesus went through in His life.  Absolutely nothing was for Him, it was all for us, people who were ungrateful and didn't deserve it.  God made us all as we are, illnesses and all, for a reason, which we will surely never know.  What I have learned is that he uses everything for the good (Romans 8:28), and that His plan for us is ultimately for good (Jeremiah 29:11.)

Christmas brings mixed feelings to many of us, but going to God with all these feelings brings such a sense of peace, and yes comfort to me.  What about you?

This Christmas, I wish you all "tidings of comfort and joy."

Merry Christmas!