Because Christmas Won't Fix Anything

I was hoping for relief back in April because they said it would only be two weeks, because there was Easter and Mother's Day and end-of-school festivities on the horizon, because we had saved up for family camp at Forest Home for the summer, because Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas were still to come.

But I see now that Christmas won't fix anything. And even if we do gather, we'll still be the same people after all the gifts are opened. We'll still be living in the same house, participating in the same activities, waiting for the end of COVID or Jesus to come back or someone to knock on our door and tell us some life-changing news. 

But if we've nothing new to do and nowhere interesting to go, and if Netflix becomes tiresome, what do I have to look forward to every morning save his mercies.

For this earth goes round and round, people give birth and die, governments form and reform, families grow and fall apart, groceries are bought and eaten, little boys are washed and then play in the dirt again. If everything repeats, then only something outside this world can alter the tempo or add color or reveal a surprise. Only God's activity in this world can bring something new. I don't mean the birth of Jesus. Yes, Jesus' birth changed everything, but God's insertion in this world didn't end with Jesus. It continues today. His mercies are new every morning. 

Each morning contains some new aspect of his mercy to be found out, unpacked, accepted, believed, relished, rested upon, meditated on, shared, and to be thankful for. Everyday he is turning tin soldiers into men, and rocks into beating hearts, and defiant, self-centered, little rebels into sons and daughters of God. Everyday he is rewiring old minds and teaching simpletons the depths of his wisdom. There is no end to the beauty and inventions and conquests he has in store for those who search for him.

Look now this Christmas to what he has to give, and you will never be disappointed.


"The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!'

"The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord." 
(Lamentations 3:22-26 NLT)

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