Advent Hope in Holiday Grief

One recent Sunday morning, we were desperately trying to get our family of four out of the door and to church on time. Everyone was dressed and fed and the diaper bag was ready to go. All I needed was my guitar. I walked into the room where it lives only to find our sweet daughter was already trying to help…by unzipping one of the front pockets and pulling out years of forgotten chord sheets and church bulletins and throwing them on the floor.

Trying to temper my frustration, I asked her to go to the other room while I frantically tried to pick them all up. As I grabbed the last of these papers, something caught my eye. 

It was a letter. A letter from my dad.

There’s no telling how long that letter had been in there. There was a time he would regularly send me these letters reminding me how proud he was of me. I don’t know how this one found its way into my guitar case, but there it was.

And in the midst of our Sunday busyness where all my efforts were needed to get my children together and get us all to church, I paused and let the grief back in.

This holiday season will be the first one without my dad. A piece is missing from holiday traditions and family gatherings.  

I am well aware that I am nowhere close to being alone in this. People across the world will spend this holiday season carrying all manners of grief - loved ones that passed away this year or in years past, broken relationships, a trial that seems unending - all against the backdrop of Christmas cheer and holiday happiness. It can create a tension we bear in silence, trying to enjoy the holiday and participate in the fun while our hearts are broken.

So is there Advent hope that applies to the broken-hearted? I’m sure you can guess, the answer is a resounding, yes.

Without Jesus, we have no hope. We have cause for great despair in the face of death and loss. We are left to bear our burdens alone with our insufficient strength. Our heart and flesh will fail. There may be temporary relief found in the resources the world offers, but in then end, these resources are only temporary bandaids trying to heal a deep wound. They all fall short.

But this not the reality for the believer.

With the birth of Jesus Christ, this weary world finally had reason to rejoice. Our ultimate gift in our Savior is reconciliation with God - salvation from sins we had no way of redeeming. That in itself is enough! It satisfies our deepest need, healing our fatal wound. But the gift found in the manger isn’t one we have to wait to open in heaven.

It is a gift we enjoy in every moment of our life here on earth. Jesus lived a human life and knows and sympathizes with us in all our circumstances (Hebrews 4:15). He experienced and grieved loss (John 11). He took up our pain and bore our suffering (Isaiah 53:4). And he daily meets us in our sorrows and our grief with a hope that cannot be shaken.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

In all our sorrows and suffering, we can find ultimate comfort through Christ. God meets us in our deepest need and provides a safe refuge we can run to, strong enough to withstand the rage of our life’s storms (Psalm 46:1-3).

Maybe you’re like me and are heading into this holiday season with a recent loss. Maybe you’re trying to rally for your usual holiday traditions but the puzzle isn’t quite coming together because a significant piece is missing. Maybe the loss and grief you hold happened long ago, but the weight of it still burdens your heart. Whatever your story may look like, let me encourage you (and myself) to carry the burdens we bear to our perfect Savior. Let us rest them at his feet and worship in the midst of our heartache and loss.

Our Savior has come. Let the hope we have in him give our weary souls a thrill of hope as we worship our King.