I’m feeling a little sad today.
I am a follower of Christ and I believe in praying in faith and confidence that God answers prayer.
But let’s be clear. People get sick. People die. Circumstances change. In other words:
Life goes on. Life changes.
My granddaughter and I are baking cookies with my mom today.
I will have a hard time choking back the tears, because I’m almost certain I won’t be baking cookies with her in her own home next year. That would be a miracle and I pray every day for exactly that. But recent events almost certainly guarantee this won’t happen.
I’m not being pessimistic. I’m not not showing faith.
It isn’t faith to ignore reality. Faith is praying in the reality that surrounds us while clinging to the fact that God can exceed our wildest requests. It can seem like an oxymoron at times.
Of course, there are times we pray outside what we see. I do it all the time. I pray that God will do what seems impossible. And he often has.
But my mom leaves me more every day. Can I be frank and say that sometimes I don’t want to visit her because it’s such a vivid reminder of how much I’ve already lost.
I know there are many of you that find Christmas hard. This year, I do, too.
But I will bake cookies and take pictures today and try to carve this time into my memory forever. I will be grateful I still have a mom to worry about. So many of you don’t. I will be grateful that my faith is being stretched to the max these days (not to mention every other part of me.)
So I’m thinking of all of you today for whom Christmas means sadness as well as the gladness. But remember, no matter how sad a time it is for you, peace can be yours because of the sacrifice God made my bringing his son to earth.
For me, the message of Christmas is all about peace, joy, and hope. We can be sad and still have peace. We can be sad and still have joy. We can be sad and still have hope.
God bless and have a good day.
