Black Friday! The holiday season is in full swing! Christmas is coming!
Christmas is coming.
Does the thought of the approaching holidays increase your blood pressure?
So much to plan.
To do.
Trying to keep everyone content, all the while maintaining the reason for the season?
Maybe you, like me, have to fight a feeling of stress when it comes to celebrating Christmas.
In Philippians 4:6, we are instructed, “Don’t worry about anything.”
That’s hard to implement, though. We want everyone to enjoy the festivities, the food, have fun. We want family to mesh well, no one departing with hurt feelings, and everyone feel blessed for coming.
How not to worry?
The verse continues instructing with the how, “by prayer and petition.”
In the hustle and bustle, I have learned to stop.
When I feel caught up in the worldly pursuit of the season, I must fall at the feet of Jesus.
When I feel the anxiety inching in, I must pray. Ask God for help to reset my heart. Petition my loving father to direct my thoughts elsewhere. (Philippians 4:8-9 instructs what we ought to think about!)
Maybe like me, you need to petition these requests more than once. (Or more than once an hour!)
No worries! He still wants us to repeatedly report our concerns, attempting to relinquish them to Him.
We can do this repetition guilt-free, with thanksgiving.
According to dictionary.com, thanksgiving means, “the act of giving thanks, grateful acknowledgement of benefits or favors, especially to God.”
We can thank God for taking our burdens. We can celebrate He’s got this! We may not understand how He might work this out, but we can rest assured He will. We can trust His outcome.
And that we can celebrate with thanksgiving!
The holidays are by definition, “a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.” (Dictionary.om)
Holidays are a cause for celebration; they should not be a source of stress or burden. And we are celebrating Jesus. Our Savior who came to reunite us with God. We must commemorate that in our very souls. As I contemplate Jesus and His life, my stress over the upcoming celebration seems so insignificant. Thank You Lord for aligning my priorities.
As we approach our holiday season, let’s pray that we can indeed celebrate our Savior. Let’s enjoy serving our families with food, festivities and fun. Let’s ask God to help us keep our deep-rooted faith firmly in the center of the frenzy.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You that I may indeed come to You with any burdens I carry and You will lift them from me. Please help change my attitude from one of worry to one of celebration. I thank You for the opportunity to serve my family and ask that You remind me to spend time at Your feet. Teach me to celebrate with thanksgiving and joy. Thank You for this Christmas season. May I reflect Jesus in my speech and activities, in Jesus’ name, Amen.