I always sense the impending whirlwind about a week before Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite time of year, but it tends to feel frenzied with the Christmas cards, the meal planning, the gift shopping, the end of the year programs, the grades due, and the list goes on…and on.
Without fail, I enter this season with my feet planted firmly so as to not get caught up in the tornadoes of “to-do’s,” but most years the inevitable happens, and I find myself more tired than thankful, and more rushed than expectant. Where are the moments to simply stop and wonder? Isn’t it only in them that we find real peace and joy in the holiday season?
My inabilities often provide perspective. God does not love us because of our capacity to “do all the things,” nor does he ask us to set aside our humanness in order to experience him; rather, Jesus calls us to worship Him in the midst of our humanity, and He reveals Himself both in the quiet moments and in the bustle of the season.
Christmas Joy in the Quiet
When Isaac Watts wrote the hymn, “Joy to the World,” He did not write it specifically for Christmas time, but instead, he wrote the hymn as a musical version of Psalm 98:4: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth,” and he intended for the tune to be sung throughout the year.
Making a joyful noise to the Lord this Christmas will, at times, require planned moments of reflection on what it is that Jesus did for us in coming to the earth. Here are just a few reasons as to why this season is so joyous for believers in Christ:
The incarnation is essential to our faith. God becoming flesh proves that what the Bible claims is true, that Jesus is fully God and fully man.
The incarnation makes Scripture come alive. God coming to earth helps us understand how the Old Testament is setting the stage for our Savior to live with man.
The incarnation reminds us of God’s faithfulness. In Genesis 3, God promised a human deliverer who would be stronger than Satan, both a suffering servant and anointed king, and God coming to earth fulfills this promise.
The incarnation makes God accessible. He is not a being who is removed from the pain, joys, work, and trials of this life, but he experienced all of this with us. Our hands praise a king who knows our pain and who understands our anxieties.
Verses 1 and 2 of this famous hymn echoes the Christmas story when the innkeeper offer the stable for Mary and Joseph: “Let every heart prepare him room.” It may be necessary to set aside quiet moments of reflection in order to prepare room in our hearts for the good news of our Savior coming to this earth. Allow Jesus to restore your joy this Christmas as the beauty of the incarnation fills your soul in still, quiet moments.
Christmas Joy in the Commotion
Equally profound is the truth that our Savior, God incarnate, meets us where we are and enables us to rejoice in Him whatever the context in which he’s placed us. There are times this Christmas where being a mother, father, employee, or church member will require us to be intrenched in activity rather than sitting quietly by the tree.
While I’m grateful for still moments, I have cherished memories of Christmas service rehearsals, a house filled with laughter, crying babies, family and friends filling our home, and in each of the busier moments there is the same, profound joy. Advent changes us, and not only in the quiet moments, but it changes us when we’re open to its magnificence, no matter what the moment brings.
The busier times can be met with anxiety, or they can be ones that cause us to rejoice greatly. It’s not always our circumstances that need altering in order to find joy in the Christmas season, it’s our hearts.
In the book of Matthew, we read about the Maji who followed the star to Bethlehem. It’s such an interesting story as these were men who were pagan astrologers, but in God’s mercy He reveals Himself to these men in their own context. After the star led the three to Bethlehem, they discover Jesus, and verse 10 says, “They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
God did not take the wise men away from their work and other responsibilities in order to reveal Himself, but God communicated to them right where they were and in a way that they would understand. And finding the One who was worthy of all of their worship caused them to rejoice exceedingly.
Our Savior will do this for us this Christmas season if we open our hearts to the joy that is Jesus even in the midst of the hustle and bustle. Allow the movement of the season to cause you to rejoice exceedingly in God’s good and gracious gifts to us. Because He came to earth, we rejoice!
The incarnation of Christ should be celebrated both in the God-given moments of quiet meditation as well as the busy moments filled with planning, communing, singing, and celebrating.
May we be filled with unshakable joy in each kind of moment this Christmas season, and may our hearts be filled to overflowing with praise to our King whose great faithfulness and love is revealed in the incarnation of His son, Jesus.
