Come and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
Hosea 6:1 NKJV
Maybe the Christmas miracle is not a change in our circumstances, but rather, the beginnings of healing within ourselves. Maybe it’s not obvious, just more joy and peace. I don’t know what letting go and moving on is going to look like. No, it may not lead to reconciliation in broken relationships; they might stay broken. It may not lead to dreams coming true or chaos ceasing. But I will be okay.
Why? Because Emmanuel. God. Is. With. Us.
He is with me. And though people make wrong choices and genuinely mess up life, it does not incapacitate Him. It hurt his heart, so much worse than it hurt mine. A dear lady at church brought out this truth: His heart hurts too, and this was not His perfect plan. Somehow, it makes a difference knowing that God did not cause the hurt to be cruel. He’s not JUST caring about my pain, but He is grieving betrayal Himself as well.
Is there a way out? Yes. His name is Jesus.
Remember Pippin? His words when hope seemed pointless:
I didn’t think it would end this way.
-“Return of the King”
But Gandalf knew better.
End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it… white shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
-“Return of the King”
Death isn’t confined to the physical experience either. Death of expectations, of dreams, of relationships… these are all losses that must be grieved. But those “deaths” are not the end. And when we can finally see past the grief, there is indeed still hope.
Twenty-something 