Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
When something bad happens in life, many of us are overwhelmed with negative emotions that come on quickly and strongly, ranging from anger to despair and everything in between. This passage can sometimes be hard to take in because it calls us to the exact opposite of what feels natural. It calls us to go beyond the emotions that overwhelm us and consider the spiritual reality we often forget when life becomes difficult.
This Christmas, we are reminded why we have this new way to handle struggle and despair: Jesus came. Immanuel, God with us, was born. He flipped the script on all that feels normal about humanity. He became flesh to join us in the hard things that we could not control or fix. He did the impossible work of making broken things new again. Because of Him, we don’t see our circumstances at face value—we see them as opportunities to run to Him as the One who has healed and will continue to heal what is broken. Because of Him, we have hope and perspective to see the greater work of redemption at play.
Instead of running to despair, apathy, or anger when we see the difficult parts of life, we can run to our heavenly Father with these things. He has shown us that He can handle them. Whatever emotions we have surrounding this Christmas day, we hold this verse with hope because happiness and fulfillment are no longer an elusive dream; joyful and abundant life is made possible through Jesus so that even on our darkest days, we can cry and rejoice that we no longer have to carry it alone or fix our problems ourselves.
- How are you feeling this Christmas? What are some things that have made it hard to have joy? How has Jesus made joy possible?
- Who in your life is struggling with a trial this Christmas? How can you share the hope of Christ with them?
- Pray and thank God for sending Immanuel, God with us, so long ago.
