I’ve been pondering the darkness that surrounds our family and all the families struggling this season. How different Christmas looks for us. The sparkling lights, shopping for the perfect gifts, and making the house look like a Christmas catalog no longer bring joy. The perfect Christmas card with the perfect family photo…these are all things of Christmas past. It’s all so heavy.

 

Then I read Luke 2, and I was reminded that God didn’t come to a world that was merry and bright. He came to a world shrouded in darkness. A world filled with empty cradles because of Herod’s decree, 400 years of God’s silence, and a people living in exile. A heavy, dark world. The story of His coming leaves me speechless, in awe and wonder. God, in His perfect plan, left His throne to plunge into a dark, hurting world - one like mine to save us from our darkness.

 

Zechariah, prophesied that, “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the sunrise shall visit us… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Such peace came over me as I realized that I can celebrate Christmas not because my world is merry and bright but because Jesus broke through the darkness, bringing hope to the suffering. The fleeting pleasure of the season may bring joy for a moment, but our eternal hope is found in that newborn baby, Emmanuel, God with us!

 

No matter the depth of our hurt, no matter how shattered life may feel, no matter how unworthy or useless we believe ourselves to be, we can take heart: because it is for us that Christ came.

 

So if you, too, find your Christmas joy mingled with sorrow… if there’s an empty seat at your table this year… if you struggle to celebrate because your story feels too broken, lift your eyes from the tinsel and gifts that will be forgotten tomorrow, and behold the glory of the incarnation. Let your heart rest not in the glitter of the season but in the unfading light of Christ, who entered our darkness so that we might know His marvelous light.

 

We celebrate not because life is easy but because our Savior is faithful. We celebrate because His birth is the promise of redemption, the dawn of hope, and the guarantee of eternal joy with those who have left a hole in our hearts.

 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

 

Merry Christmas from the Sparks!