Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father tend to each of our hearts today, and guard them with His peace. Father, during this holiday season there are so many reasons to rejoice, to be happy and glad and full of wonder. But there are also hurts, and griefs, and deep pools of loneliness. We need you, Father. We need you first above all. We need you next, in the bones of our relationships together as your children. You have given us what we need to be comforted and sustained when we hurt during the holiday season. You have given us yourself. And in you, you have also given us each other. In the name of Jesus please help us to seek you, together, as we struggle with loneliness and hurt. Comfort us Father as we seek you! Amen.
Your Morning Song: "Joy to the World" by Reawaken Hymns
Your Morning Scripture: Psalm 40:17
But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay.
...
The Christmas season is a beautiful time of celebration, of rejoicing, enjoying our friends and family. And for many of us, this is our favorite season. It's fun, rich, meaningful, smells great, tastes great, and is just all around the best thing ever. But for some of us it isn't.
Perhaps we've lost family or friends to death. Perhaps we've simply grown and moved apart. Whatever the reason might be, for some Christmas, while still sweet, is also bitter, and for all it's sweetness, still hard to bear. For many struggling with loneliness, the joy of Christmas only makes it hurt that much more.
What can we do, if we are struggling with feeling alone? What can we do, if our hearts ache for the family and friends that everyone else seems to have?
Begin with God Himself. The Psalmist here declares the wonderful truth, that he is poor and needy, but still remembered by God. It is deeply painful to feel forgotten during the Christmas season. But if you do feel that way, remember that God Himself remembers you, and draws you near to Himself, where there is rest, and comfort, and joy, and peace.
And the best part is that we truly are undeserving of this, and unable to make Him love us in this way ourselves. God longs to bring peace and comfort to the lonely. He will not delay. He will not wait for us to say some magical formula prayer. But instead He comes looking for us in the barren wilderness of our loneliness, to be with us, to comfort us, to support and encourage us.
Struggling with the suffocating burden of loneliness? Entrust yourself to God. Cry out to Him, "Here I am! I need you! Be with me!" And know that He was already there, already waiting, already present, before you even asked.
God loves you. He is your Father. You are His child. Run to Him in prayer. Let Him weep with you. Share in His Joy. Trust Him with your hurts. And be guarded by His perfect peace in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And we need to admit that we do still have relationships with others that we might be overlooking. Our brothers and sisters in Christ, together with whom we are called, "Church." We need to trust each other with our loneliness, with our griefs and our hurts. As we are able, perhaps we need to do lunch, or coffee, or dinner, or a conversation on a park bench. Whatever it might be, as God Himself longs to bring peace and rest to our loneliness by drawing us near to Him, He will also bring us near to one another.
We need to be mindful of this very real problem and this sweet, divine solution. God is with us, and we are with Him, together. Church, as the body of Christ, let's be mindful of each other this Christmas. Let's care for each other, heart and mind, as we celebrate our Savior, Jesus, God with Us.
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