He Knows Our Grief

 

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, as put by Andy Williams. It’s a holiday full of joy, celebration, and wonder. However, for many people, it’s also a time of grief, sadness, and pain. Maybe you’ve lost a close loved one. Maybe a relationship or friendship ended when you thought it never could. Maybe life is just so stressful that you can’t find any reason to celebrate.

I know firsthand how difficult the holiday season can be. The main reason for this is the loss of my dad back in 2020. He was my person, and I was his little girl. Losing a parent at any age is difficult, but somehow, it’s even worse when you’re only in high school when they pass. This Christmas will be my fifth one without him here. And yet, I still will watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for him.

Yet, even though I have plenty to be upset over, I have plenty of reasons for this season to not be the most wonderful time of the year, I don’t have to let this grief ruin the holiday for me. Christmas isn’t just about gifts or food or family and friends, as good as those things are. No, Christmas is truly about slowing down and focusing on the real reason: God becoming flesh in the form of a baby named Jesus. That baby would grow up to become a perfect man who would destroy sin and death through His own death on the cross, raising again from the third day, giving us eternal hope. A hope that outlasts any grief we may experience.

Ok, that’s awesome, but you may be thinking, “Ok cool, but the grief is still there. Why focus on Jesus?” We can focus on Jesus in our grief because He too has experienced our sufferings. Not only was He fully God, but He was fully human too, meaning He went hungry, such as when He fasted for forty days. He had people against Him, as the Pharisees constantly fought him with their arguments, sending Him to the cross. He had close friends who betrayed Him, such as Judas betraying Him or Peter denying Him. And He felt grief for us too, as it says in John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” He wept over the death of His friend Lazurus, even though He knew He was going to raise him from the dead. Yet, grief still affected Him, just as it affects us today.

So, this holiday season, if you are walking through grief or struggling with life, remember the real reason for Christmas: to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world in the form of baby Jesus. Not only that but take comfort in knowing that the perfect Messiah isn’t unaware of your struggles. He knows them personally and wants to give you peace. As He says in John 14: 27:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”