{"id":10840,"date":"2024-12-24T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T14:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=10840"},"modified":"2024-12-20T07:55:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T13:55:53","slug":"tidings-of-comfort-and-joy-for-the-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2024\/12\/24\/tidings-of-comfort-and-joy-for-the-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Tidings of Comfort and Joy for the Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most holiday songs are filled with joy, laughter, and expectations of warm memories being made with family and friends. But are you familiar with these lines?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when those blue snowflakes start falling
\nThat's when those blue memories start calling.
\nYou'll be doing all right,
\nWith your Christmas of white
\nBut I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holidays can be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally challenging for several reasons. While these lyrics are about the feelings associated with lost love, the truth is we encounter many things in life that make us feel \u201cblue\u201d. The loss of a loved one, a divorce, financial concerns, an unrealized dream, distance from family, sickness, etc., all have the potential to disrupt our mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational peace, no matter what time of year it is, but especially during the holidays.<\/p>\n

When we feel down, we tend to move inward and isolate ourselves from others, but Scripture teaches us to welcome others into our struggle, bearing one another\u2019s burdens, whether that be affliction, temptation, or sadness (Ephesians 6:2; Romans 12:15). As Christians, we may have been taught that we should avoid our feelings and emotions and just give \u201cthem\u201d to God. That is much easier said than done and isn\u2019t exactly biblical. Yes, I Peter 5:7 does say, \u201c...casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]\u201d (Amplified Version). However, it is important to read and understand this verse in context with the whole chapter, which is about willingly serving God and one another. It reminds us that suffering is a part of this life, but we do not have to suffer alone. Needing the care of a spiritual leader, friend, or trained professional is not a sign of weakness, but an understanding of what serving one another in our weaknesses looks like.<\/p>\n

On the night of Jesus\u2019 betrayal, Mark 14:33-34 (AMP) says, \u201cHe took Peter and James and John with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled [extremely anguished at the prospect of what was to come]. And He said to them, \u201cMy soul is deeply grieved and overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.\u201d The following verses go on to tell us that His disciples kept falling asleep because they did not and could not understand His sorrow, but he invited them to come anyway. Sometimes, people can\u2019t or won\u2019t understand your situation, but their willingness to come along and not discount your emotions is helpful. The disciples\u2019 presence did not remove Jesus\u2019 grief or change the outcome of His arrest, but He invited them to do what is sometimes the only thing we can do: pray for Him and be near. So, as we approach the holidays, you may find yourself wrestling with pain from your past or the prospects of what is to come. I pray that this unfamiliar verse to a treasured Christmas carol reminds you that you are not alone and that there is One who came to bring comfort and joy in the middle of whatever you are going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear not then, said the Angel
\nLet nothing you affright
\nThis day is born a Savior,
\nOf a pure Virgin bright,
\nTo free all those who trust in Him
\nFrom Satan\u2019s pow\u2019r and might
\nOh tidings of comfort and joy
\nComfort and joy
\nO tidings of comfort and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

*If you need to talk to someone, the American Association of Christian Counselors knows that \u201casking for help is hard, but finding help shouldn\u2019t be.\u201d For more information about finding a Licensed Professional Christian Counselor in your area, go to christiancareconnect.com .<\/p>\n

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Christy Barlow
\nNew Horizons Ministries Women\u2019s Ministries Director<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":10843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1,37],"tags":[1533,1404,16,1031,1350,1057,1454,925,69,1540,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-10840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-discipleship-ministries","8":"category-general","9":"category-womens-ministries","10":"tag-1533","11":"tag-article","12":"tag-discipleship","13":"tag-discipleship-ministries","14":"tag-iphc-women","15":"tag-iphc-womens-ministries","16":"tag-q4","17":"tag-whitney-davis","18":"tag-women","19":"tag-womens-council","20":"tag-womens-ministries-2","21":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"Christy Barlow","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/12\/Womens-Q4-24.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-2OQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}