4 Ways to Find Hope When Christmas Doesn't Feel Joyful

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1. Remember That the First Christmas Was Hard

Christmas was a mixture of feelings from the moment it first began. If you consider the circumstances around Christ’s birth, we can be filled with joy at the reminder of angels singing on high and announcing the coming of a Savior. We can be in awe of the miracles that weave their way through the nativity. However, it is also important to remember that Christmas was born into a broken world. Not a perfect one. Jesus was born amidst political unrest, impoverishment, people displaced because of a Roman-enforced census, lack of lodging, fear of the unknown, and let’s not forget the outright holocaust horror brought down on infant and toddler sons by King Herod. There was nothing joyful in that terror, and yet we have crafted the image of a twinkling, musical, magical Christmas, and we live with the expectation that we are to feel that way.

“She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” —Luke 2:7

No room. Manure-scented air freshener. Stone walls, straw for bedding, and a feeding trough to lay a newborn in. These were just a few of the Christmas decorations on the first Christmas. So how is this supposed to make you joyful? Perhaps it can help put into perspective reality versus expectations. Christmas, Scripturally speaking, was filled with hope because of the promise of what the newborn Jesus would bring through sacrifice, death, and His eventual resurrection. We can find joy in that truth, while accepting that our Christmas this year may not be movie-scene perfect. But the promise of Christ is so much more.

2. Look for Emmanuel, Not Emotion

Along the lines of recalling the first Christmas and all the circumstances, it’s important to remember that Christmas isn’t found in our feelings. Feelings and emotions are praised nowadays and almost heralded as a guide to which we should listen.

“Listen to your heart.” “Embrace self-care.” “You’ve got this.” Popular cliches that are empty when reality sets in, our strength is gone, and we’re left floundering to pull our head off the pillow in the morning.

Emotions are fickle. They will take us from self-confidence to self-defeat in a matter of minutes. But Emmanuel is not fickle.
 
Remember? “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.” —Isaiah 7:14

Have you searched for Him this Christmas? Have you really? Have you searched for the foundational truth that Jesus’ birth brings? Have you scoured the Word of God to seek and to know Him? Or are you still trying to corral your emotions, wrangle them into something manageable, and are you wallowing in them instead of reaching for the hand of God that promises to pull you up and out of yourself into the fullness of God?

3. Stay Connected to God’s Word

As we continue to build on finding hope during Christmas, it is crucial to remember that as we seek Emmanuel, we do so within the Word of God. Scripture is what anchors us to truth—His truth—that does not change.

Speaking of Christmas lights, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” —Psalm 119:105. What better décor to adorn our minds and hearts with than the light of God’s Word? Hope is found there. Promise too. Even the elusive joy can be found in its pages.

It will also challenge us to change. To change our focus and our perspective. To push us beyond the comfortable Christmas we seem to believe we deserve, into the unknown depths of our Bethlehem nights. But in that quest to know God deeper, to face our sin and our shortcomings, we also discover the beauty of a silent night. The glory of God who became man and dwelt among us. For the sole purpose that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. But we will not know these promises, understand them, or even attempt to hear them, if we are not on an exploration of God’s Word.

4. Remember That This Season Is Temporary

Oh yes. We hear this often, don’t we? This too shall pass. It’s easy to say, but year after year it seems we get to Christmas with a very similar recollection: this was a hard year.

But when God speaks of hope, why are we short-sighted enough to believe He speaks of earthly hope? Hope that is somehow confined to the circular globe (or flat earth, if you’re one of those believers), and doesn’t extend into eternity.

When the Psalmist wrote, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5), did he mean a literal morning? Likely not. In fact, the “morning” may have nothing to do with a day or a week or even a month later. Sometimes weeping stays for a very long night. That night may be the bulk of our entirety in this broken world.

But think of it, then! That makes the depth and the hope of the promise of Christmas even greater. Because we can hope for eternity, we can abide in the promises that come with Jesus’s birth, and we can look forward to joy in the morning. Christmas points forward as much as it looks back. The baby in the manger is also the King who will one day make all things new.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 21:4

If Christmas doesn’t feel joyful this year, you are not failing the season. You are living honestly within it. And hope—quiet, steady, and faithful—still meets us right where we are. The birth of Christ set in motion the entire story of the Old Testament, foreshadowing promises in the New Testament. And our future is great! It is mighty! Battles are already won, hope has already been promised, death has been conquered, and joy is coming. That’s the beauty of Christmas. That is hope when joy is difficult to find.

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