Christmastime is here. It’s the season of joy, love, hope, and peace. Yet, the tough things in life don’t always seem to get the holiday memo.
Trials and suffering don’t often take Christmas vacation. And neither does the fear of such hardships. We see them on the horizon, or we fear our already ongoing trouble getting worse.
Something about the holidays makes such situations seem even harder, more tragic and painful to endure during a time when we should just get to be happy and enjoy life.
So our difficulties and the fears that go along with them rob us of the joy we would otherwise experience during the Christmas season. If we have trials during the holidays, it seems unfair that we can’t get to savor this most special time of year like others can.
Or if we see a difficult circumstance coming at us, we worry it will strike during Christmas and be all the harder to take because of the timing.
Yet, we know Who is in charge of the timing of things. We know the One Who gives and takes away the trials we face. But how could God allow problems to come our way at the worst possible time? Why would He do that? After all, the Christmas season is all about Him—the celebration of His birth and salvation for the world. Shouldn’t we be able to celebrate that without simultaneously dealing with fear and trouble?
Those are good questions, and I found a great answer to them in Stacey Weeks’ Christmas novella, Mistletoe Melody. Just like in real life, the characters in this story don’t get a vacation from their problems during the holidays.
The heroine, Melody, still has to deal with her recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, even with Christmas only days away. Quentin, the hero, still has to navigate how to protect his preteen daughter, Janie, who has physical challenges thanks to her stroke at a young age.
Melody, Quentin, and Janie each have an additional problem beyond the obvious ones. They’re plagued by fear.
To read the rest of this post and hear of the hope we can have even when our Christmas is shadowed by difficulties, follow this link here, to where I continue these thoughts on Stacey Weeks’ blog. May you all have a merry and fearless Christmas!
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Thank you so much, Jerusha! Just what I needed because my health, thanks to Lyme, has taken a temporary downward turn. Message to follow. 🙂
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So sorry to hear of your downturn in health, Katie. I do hope you improve soon. I’ll be praying for you! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!