Christmas Chaos

SERIES: Christmas (2 of 3)
Christmas Chaos

I enjoy the Christmas season. Besides the One we are celebrating, I just like this time of the year, and I think that is because I had happy childhood memories of Christmas. In college, I LOVED Christmas break. We had finals before break, so everything was super stressful, but when I came home, it was time to chill, read a couple good books, see my dog and spend time with my family. Just relax.
   
But for some people, the holidays are not a joyful occasion. Some people’s work schedule may not allow much of a break, there may not be a healthy family to be with over the holidays or perhaps tragedy has struck and this year is just going to be different...empty.
   
Anywhere in between, Christmas can be chaotic. 

Just a thought today if it seems that your Christmas this year is “less than ideal” or feels a little too chaotic.  Maybe the Christmas story is a reminder that the One who came that first Christmas morning arrived the way He did to remind us that He understands chaos, sad times and tragedy. We are not alone.
   
Reading the story of Joseph, Mary & baby Jesus, we may have heard there was “no room in the inn” for them and see a manger scene with a baby the stable, but how often do we think about the chaos and hardship involved around that moment that the angels declared and wise men traveled great distances to behold? 
   
Was it an “ideal birth” for Mary to travel 70-80 miles AWAY from family (on foot or on a donkey) being at or close to 9 months pregnant? Or that lodging was not available and Mary had to lay her newborn baby in a manger...a nice word for a feeding trough in a stable (likely a cave where animals were sheltered). And last week we mentioned the little-talked-about part of the Christmas story where Joseph, Mary and the baby had to flee because King Herod was trying to kill the baby whom he felt was a threat to his kingdom. And then the news of all the children in and around Bethlehem being slaughtered, looking for her child.
   
So the first Christmas was more than a little chaotic, not at all like a Hallmark Christmas movie. As a matter of fact, as that baby grew to be a man, He was not sheltered from ANY of life’s hardships. And really, if you are looking for the message behind the Christmas story, that is it. God gave up heaven, to become a human and to live through all of the suffering that we know here, to show us that we are not alone, we are not forgotten...we are loved.
   
f your Christmas gets chaotic this year, remember the message of that first Christmas. He went through a lifetime of chaos to show you do not have to walk through yours alone.

Your service is appreciated,
Pastor Rob

Links to other posts in this series: Christmas- Part 1, Part 3