If Christmas Is Hard For You

I hope this Christmas is easier for you than Christmas 2020. I hope you aren’t still in full lockdown, and I hope you don’t have the exact same fears and losses you did last year.

But I know this Christmas may still be hard for you, and I have practical encouragement for you in this season.

Maybe you are dealing with new challenges that are affecting many of us, like inflation, financial or workplace stresses due to labor shortages, or frustration over supply chain problems.

Perhaps you are handling everyday junk like relationship issues, health problems, temptations, or winter blues. Those seem to affect us year after year, pandemic or not.

Maybe you have new griefs, new losses and new sorrows harrowing your heart this December. The first holiday season for these problems is always the hardest.

If Christmas is hard for you this year, I have hope for you. It’s hard-won hope I’m glad to share from my time in former trenches.

Here are five pieces of encouragement for you:

1. The Christmas season has a limited time span. We tend to place a truckload of expectations on Dec. 24 and 25, perhaps more than we do for any other days of the year. Mercifully, they are confined to the same 24-hour periods, and that never changes. God will be right beside you in every second, minute and hour of those days, just as he has been before (Heb. 13:5b). He’ll carry you through as you vent your honest feelings to him in prayer.
2. God is working behind the scenes of this Christmas on your behalf. When I look back on Christmases that were particularly hard for me, I can now see the seeds of hope, joy and peace God was planting back then. I couldn’t see that during the darkness and turmoil of those years. But now, years later, God is reaping the harvest. He is likely planting lots of seeds in this season for you too, preparing good things to be reaped in the future (Jer. 29:11).
3. You only need one person to help you walk through this hard Christmas. Just one encouraging friend can lift your spirits. The part you play is reaching out to them. I remember how lonely and sad I felt in past seasonal depressions, but how much better I felt when I simply called a friend or met someone for lunch. You aren’t meant to walk through this season alone. God will give you the courage to reach out if you are willing to do your part (Matt. 7:7-8).
4. Volunteering can lift your spirits in this hard season. There is something mysteriously wonderful about giving to others when you feel down. In the Christmases where I intentionally gave my time away to ministries and charities, I received an instant mood boost. Just an hour or two at your local church, library, blood donation center, food pantry, school or other places could make a huge difference. If you feel well enough to volunteer, you’ll receive far more than you give (Luke 6:38).
5. There is no shame in reaching out for higher-level help. I spent five years in therapy, and the sessions before Christmas made an enormous difference in my peace level. A few hours of talking with a pastor, counselor or Stephen Minister may help you get through this season. You can contact Focus on the Family for a free, one-time counseling call like I did years ago, or ask your local church to refer you to a Christian counselor. Remember, God often uses others to lift us out of our pits (Psalm 40:2).

If Christmas is hard for you, I pray you will be strengthened in your faith as you ponder these truths. Don’t hesitate to take action on one or more of them. I pray that in the new year, you’ll be able to look back and see how God was good to you even in a hard Christmas.

Note: This post originally appeared at Kingdom Edge Magazine in December 2021.

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