Never Alone: Some Thoughts for Christmas ’24

Christmastime gives you a new appreciation for a world that we so often take for granted.

This world looks a little too broken at times. We’ve all felt the weariness of it before.

But as we see our world decked in twinkling lights and boughs of greenery and perhaps a blanket of fresh snow, suddenly we’re reminded that this weary world does, in fact, rejoice.

It rejoices because its Creator came down to walk upon its soil and remind its people that they are, in fact, never alone.

Here came the Word made flesh. Here came love incarnate.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

~ John 1:14, ESV

As a man, humbled and starving, Jesus would reject authority over the kingdoms of the world, that He would honor His Father’s name (See Luke 4).

As a man, humbled and falsely accused, He would get on His knees to beg for another way. Yet as a man He would also choose to honor His Father’s will (See Luke 22).

“[Jesus] knelt down and prayed, saying ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

~ Luke 22:41-42 ESV

He didn’t have to do it, but He bore the pain and shame of the cross for “the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:1). The joy of saving us, that we wouldn’t have to experience the pain and the shame.

The very humanity of the story encourages us to change our lifestyles. At Christmas, it can feel a little easier to hope, a little easier to love, and a little easier to give with a willing heart everything we hold too dear.

But during the rest of the year, do our weary souls still choose to rejoice?

Do we still remember that we’re never truly alone?

Year-round we have a Savior, still in the flesh, still bearing the nail-scars as a sign of His sacrifice.

He knows exactly what it is like on this difficult road of life because He has walked this very same road before.

His journey started with the humblest of beginnings, there at the manger scene.

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

~ Luke 2:7

Jesus was only a baby, but this world had already chosen to reject Him.

And despite His beginnings, He still chose to lead a life of gratitude and love and generosity.

His example challenges us to change the way that we respond to life’s hardships.

“It is natural to revolt at squalor, but we may well relax our lip of scorn and contempt when we stand among the lowly and despised, for out of the rags of the meanest cradle there may come a great man and this is a treasure richer than all the wealth of the Orient.”

~ Frederick Douglass

Not only do we have Jesus as our example, but we have Him as our companion. He is waiting for us at the finish line, but He also remains by our side every step of the way.

do You know what it's like ~

do You know what it's like,
i asked You once
when my knees hit the floor
and tears poured down my face

do You know what it's like
to feel so much pain that
every single step hurts

do You know what it's like
to be rejected by a world that
fails to see value in You

do You know what it's like
to hit Your knees in prayer
knowing that Your life will still be hard
and You'll still have to bear the pain
for a promised joy
that feels much too far away

yes, My daughter,
You said to me that day
as i kneeled in the rain
and the drops poured down my back

I hung on a cross
and felt the pain of a broken body
and the rejection of a broken world
and I asked my Father if there
was another way
but I had to bear the pain
for a promised joy
that felt much too far away

I know what it's like
and this is why I endured the pain
because one day
it will now be taken away
from you

so as you ask Me if there
is another way
I ask you to endure the pain
for the joy set before you
and you can find hope
in knowing that I went through
this same pain
and I went through it all
for you

you are not alone
not even in your
pain

Christmastime and beyond, let’s remember to rejoice over the promises set before us. Let’s remember that we’re never truly alone on the longest and coldest nights.

And let’s remember the Savior who made that all possible.

Merry Christmas, everyone!