"In the winter of her life she had Christmas everyday and so can you!"
Winter is not what it used to be. I’m not talking about the weather patterns but the impact of winter. One hundred years ago there was little or no electricity, few houses had central heat or indoor plumbing; automobiles were a rarity, and in winter fresh fruits and vegetables almost nonexistent. Make no mistake – winters were hard. The snow piled up, travel was treacherous, houses were cold, the nights were long with little light and people were often hungry. The only bright spot in that winter wasteland was Christmas. When my late father reminisced about his childhood his memories of Christmas were special. He remembered few gifts but he did recall, with pleasure, hard peppermint candy, an orange and Christmas dinner. The way he remembered it it was the only meal the entire winter where there was more than enough food to go around.
In that context C.S. Lewis’ line, “It was always winter but never Christmas” is especially haunting. Think about it. Without electricity the winter nights were long and dark. Without central heat the houses were never really warm except right next to the pot bellied stove. Communication was limited, only the most affluent had telephones; the mail was sporadic, travel of any distance difficult if not impossible and there was seldom an abundance of food. Truthfully, Christmas was the only thing that made winter bearable, but what if there was no Christmas?
Times have changed; in the United States modern advances have lessened winter’s impact. Most houses have central heat and indoor plumbing. Electricity makes the night nearly as bright as day, snow plows clear the highways and only the severest winter storm impedes travel and then only for a time. Even the poorest families have cell phones, colored televisions and access to the internet. Yet, for many it is still always winter but never Christmas.
Of course, I’m not talking about the weather but about life. For many, even in my relatively small circle of acquaintances, it is winter with no relief in sight. A young mother is spending Christmas alone with her two children because her minister husband divorced her after becoming involved with another woman. A family was forced into bankruptcy when their business failed. A grieving widow faces the holidays alone having lost her husband way too soon to the ravages of cancer. A husband and father lost his job when the company he worked for went out of business. Another friend received a negative diagnosis from his doctor.... Always winter but never Christmas!
That’s the way it was in Bethlehem too. Life was brutal – poverty was widespread, disease rampant, the exposure of infants an accepted fact of life, women were considered the property of their husbands and to complicate things Judea was an occupied country. The Jews had their own puppet king but he was just a figure head. Rome was calling the shots, collecting the taxes and executing anyone who dared oppose them. It was always winter but never Christmas.
Some of you know first hand what I’m talking about. You’re in the midst of a hard winter right now with no Christmas in sight. Don’t give up! Rather than discouraging you this should give you hope. God has a long history of showing up in the very worst of times. Or maybe tough times simply make us more perceptive. Maybe He’s been there all the time and it simply took pain and suffering to open our eyes. Take a moment and examine your own life. Look back through the years and identify those times when you felt closest to the Lord. More than likely it was during the hard times, those times when it seemed it was always winter but never Christmas; at least that’s been my experience.
My brother told me about a missionary’s teenage daughter who was stricken with a grievous disease. Her digestive system stopped working and she was literally starving to death. To keep her alive the doctors inserted a shunt and begin feeding her intravenously. Her activities were severely restricted and she had to carry a feeding pouch at all times. With no hope of a cure it was a heartbreaking situation but she managed it with surprising grace, trusting Jesus minute by minute to strengthen her.
After a couple of years the Lord instantaneously healed her. Overnight she was able to resume a normal life. Some months later she told her father, “I’m eternally grateful for my healing but there are times I miss the relationship I had with Jesus when I was so sick. He was my only hope and I clung to Him for dear life.”
Think about it. In the winter of her life she had Christmas everyday and so can you!
Christianity does not make us immune to the vicissitudes and sufferings so common to this life, but it does empower us to live with meaning in the midst of unspeakable loss. Therefore I will thank Him in the hard times, knowing, “…that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
It may be winter but Christmas is on the way!
This is Richard Exley straight from the heart.
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Richard Exley Ministry
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