It’s a crazy hurried season. This Christmas season. And emotions run high. I don’t know about you, but I’m not good with plans changing.  I get all crazy and nervous.  Like maybe I’m going to miss something.  Funny how I never ever have. Ever.  And still I worry about it.

Well this year, we’ve had some enormous changes.  My mom has had a few medical things happening and it finally came to a head – yesterday.  What are we, like 3 days til Christmas! Change of Christmas plans, change of living arrangements, changes in medications, etc.  Yet I am calm… utterly peaceful.  I am not freaking out, I am not think that I can’t handle this, although it was my instant split-second reaction.

And it’s so funny how we say that – but it’s so close to Christmas.  Our associate pastor just preached an entire sermon about this very thing.  His point – we all see this adorable little baby in a manger and we think everything is rosy and peachy keen.  He is going to fix everything.  But the name Emanuel means, “God with us”.  It doesn’t mean no more problems, no more anxiety, it means He is with us!

And so, the other day when all this started happening, I wanted to call my two friends who are marvelous prayer warriors…  I needed them to pray.  And yet I hadn’t, prayed that is.  And God kept telling me to go into my prayer closet… of course I kept shrugging Him off.  If I can just get these other two ladies to pray… So finally, I told Him in my crankiest voice ever “okay”.  I walked in and wouldn’t sit down.  I was being stubborn and childish.  And both God and I knew it.

Now, to preface this a little bit – when I made this closet, this war room, I wrote scriptures on cards.  And some of them I frankly had been thinking didn’t belong in there… so I was going to take them down.  But guess where they were…

Yep, they were at the top where I had to stand to read them.  So I started reading –

“‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Wow, did you get that even in the trials we will not cease to yield fruit!  That’s amazing.

So right there, before I even called my friends, God gave me peace.  He let me know He is going to help me and He is with my amazing little momma.  He gave me the peace to know I wasn’t in this alone.

Funny how God works.  Of course I had to say I was sorry to God.  He was right and I was so very wrong.  (This happens quite frequently…)

And one of my favorite hymns has always been It Is Well With My Soul.  written by a man whose children had drown, he visited the spot where they went down in a sinking ship and wrote this song:

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well with my soul,
     It is well, it is well with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.  –  Horatio G Spafford

So if in this Christmas season you feel alone, you feel forgotten, you miss someone who maybe passed away this past year and your heart hurts.  Shoot, if your heart hearts for any reason, go to God first.  He will show you His love, His guidance or like in my case, His support.

And if you aren’t quite sure just who this Jesus is, or of you think you know, but haven’t ever talked with Him (it’s what He wants, a relationship with you) the good news is you can start today.  Just talk with Him.  Tell Him how you feel, tell Him you’re mad at Him because certain things have happened, ask Him to show you His brand of love which is better than we can think or imagine…

And if you need some help, or someone to pray with you, contact your local church, contact a friend who really KNOWS Jesus.  They will be more than happy to help you out.

I’m going to leave you with this…

^“15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15