Always Winter, But Never Christmas

“I just need this week to be over.”

“I wish I could skip this part of life.”

“I don’t see this ever getting better.”

Sound familiar? Some seasons of life, it feels like this is my own personal mantra. While this particular season is meant for rejoicing with the Magi, the short, cold(ish) days and insanely busy crowds make it much easier to try and shut myself out of the holiday scene entirely and snuggle up like Herod did in a throne of self-deception.

Whether it be feeling the absence of a loved one, a battle with depression, tension between a family, or even simply the pressure to make the darkest, coldest, longest season of the year cheery and fun, it seems as though there are just as many reasons to be down as there are to celebrate. While the existence of our emotions is healthy and human, it is how we deal with them that affects us so deeply. When we choose to take our moments of hopelessness and weave them into a web we fool ourselves into thinking is impenetrable, we fall victim to the trap of self-deception. We allow seasons of frustration to fester in our hearts, and we become their slaves, unable or unwilling to break through the mold and try on a new perspective of hope.

See, though I identified earlier with Herod’s patterns of self-deception, the truth is that unlike Herod, I know a hope that cannot be counted out when I am emotionally disoriented. When I feel the world itself has stopped and I’m stuck at the bottom of a mountain, Matthew 2:20 reminds me of the promise and perseverance of God, even when I feel like I have nothing left in me.

“Get up, take the child and his mother to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” Matthew 2:20

Though I may only see winter at times, though I may miss “Christmas” at any time of the year even when its right in front of me, it does not mean it isn’t there. By acknowledging the freedom God can give my mind and wholeheartedly receiving it to be true, I am reminded that even in the bleak and trying days, Christmas is still here in His promise. Like Herod’s attempts to end Jesus’ life before it really began, the emotionally-driven distortions of my own life situations cannot eradicate the promises of God. Even on the most difficult of days, I can find freedom in the fact that out of Egypt, Christmas is coming.

Written by: Brianna Vanderveen

Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant