The Hope of Christmas for the Hurting

As Christmas is rapidly approaching, I can’t ignore that it seems as if I know more people that are hurting than are not.
I have so many thoughts related to this swirling around my head and I just came to a point where I asked God outright “why is there so much pain?” and it’s almost as if I heard him whisper back to me,

“that’s why Jesus had to come.”

You see, Jesus didn’t come just to see what life on earth was like. He knew full well, as He was there in the beginning when He perfectly created life, and every day since.

God gave man his first breath. He saw when we gave into temptation and the first sin was committed. And ever since, the world has been broken and fell away from God’s best.

The answer to “why is there so much pain?” is simple: sin.

Sin is the reason brother murdered brother.
Sin is the reason the weak are preyed upon.
Sin is the reason we feel pain, depression, brokenheartedness.
Sin destroys relationships.
Sin allows suicidal thoughts to creep in.
Sin gives way to war, famine, poverty, and natural disasters.
It’s the reason a mommy and daddy don’t get to hold their baby until Heaven.
It’s the reason children grow up without mommies and daddies.
It’s behind cancer, infertility, every disease and illness, and every life taken too soon.
It’s why addiction exists.
Sin tears families apart.
Many of us have felt the effects of these very real situations. I am thinking of many as I write this.

Our sin is why Jesus was born, fully God and fully man.
Our sin is why Jesus had to die.

The plan was always for Him to come and set us free from the bondage of sin. He brought hope the world had never known.

Jesus was the Good News the angels told the shepherds about in the field the night He was born. And when they found Him lying in the manger, as shepherds, they would have known the symbolism- the Lamb had come to be the only perfect sacrifice. Our sin was great, but His love was greater.
Jesus is the hope of Christmas. He is the hope in every painful situation we face in this broken world.
If you find yourself not feeling “in the Christmas mood” this season, know that you’re not alone, and that Jesus loves you so much that He came to bring you hope and to take your place, feel all of your pain, the weight of all of the sin of the world. And He overcame it when He stepped out of that grave. And He’s coming again to bring us Home, to a place with no more pain, no more sickness, not a tear will be shed, where everying will be as it was meant to be. So let’s be ready 🙌🏼
And in the meantime, let’s reach out to the hurting and lonely with the good news of why Jesus came ❤️

Luke 2:10-12

‘But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

John 10:10

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Romans 5:6-8

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

**A special thank you to Jenna Walters who is the guest author of this post. Thanks, Jenna! ❤️