31 Days to Christmas Day 30: Christmas Eve

I have been contemplating this post from the beginning of the series and hadn't decided until today exactly what it would be about.  Then, while running some errands this morning, I heard a radio host talking about Christmas and I knew exactly what I wanted to write.

What is Christmas to you?

Family.  

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Jesus.  

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Joy.  

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Wonder.  

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Excitement.  

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Food.  

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Gifts.  

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Celebration.  

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Stress.  

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Exhaustion.  

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Frustration.  

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Disappointment.  

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We're all adults, right?  So we always focus on the true meaning of Christmas and don't get caught up in the stress, frustration, or disappointment, right?  Of course.  Well...most of us.  So for all the rest of you, I'm going to continue writing this blog.  (Okay, okay, so we probably all experience these emotions from one time to another!)  

The one I want to address is disappointment.  As children, we were disappointed about gifts we got or didn't get.  As adults, we might be disappointed about that, or it might be other things.  The ham tasted funny.  A glass broke, so we didn't have enough matching glasses.  There was an argument during dinner.  We weren't able to please our kids.  Money's tight.  Whatever your disappointment, know that this is just one more thing that links us to those around at the first Christmas.  

Mary and Joseph knew they were going to be mother and father to the Son of God.  They probably had a beautiful birth planned with a midwife from their town.  Joseph might have made a lovely cradle to place Jesus in and Mary may have scraped together enough money to buy a soft, cuddly blanket to wrap him in.  They would stay close to Mary's family so they could help the young couple in raising their first child.  

When the decree came that they all had to go to their hometowns to be taxed, disappointment must have crept into their hearts.  Mary certainly hadn't planned to spend the end of her third trimester on the back of a donkey.  Joseph probably had no desire to catch the baby.  Mary didn't want to deliver without a midwife.  Joseph was probably proud of the home he'd built and didn't want to leave it.  But that was what happened.  They followed the orders and in doing so, followed God's plan for their lives.  

Along with Mary and Joseph, there were others disappointed that first Christmas.  The Jews had waited for a ruler.  They wanted him to take down the Kings that were over them and raise them up into a mighty nation.  Instead, they got a baby in a stable.  A gentle man.  A child from unwed parents.  

So if you feel some disappointment this Christmas, know that you're in good company.  Allow even those negative feelings to bring you back to Christ.  Although He was a disappointment to many, He is our conquering ruler.  Remember this Christmas that if you trust in Him, you will never be disappointed.  

1 Peter 1:6-7 

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ;