All the Feels

All the Feels

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“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

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Doesn’t Christmas time give all the feels?  Nostalgia. Reflection. Hope. Longing. Joy.

And sometimes the feels we don’t want…. Loss. Regret. Grief. Anxiety. Angst. Hopelessness. Loneliness.

Christmas is about Jesus- a man acquainted with grief, a man of sorrows, stricken, afflicted, bruised, and chastised. Jesus has never said those feelings cannot coexist within Him or in relationship with Him.

Twirling in the lights

Cheese!

I do hope that you are not drowning in despair, regret, or hopelessness- but if by chance you are Jesus is near. He walked through all of what you and I do, and understands the ache of our souls. He knows too because He bore all of it not so we would never feel- but so we could render it powerless when we give it to Jesus who has power over all.

A sweet friend has been teaching me that we can feel many feelings all at once-both joy and grief. Gladness and pain. Regret and gratitude. That the hard does not and should not outweigh the good, the lovely, or the beautiful.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Emphasis mine

My girl

I appreciate this version and wanted to include this one as well.

“We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭TPT‬‬

I do really attempt to not complain. I heard it said- “If God inhabits your praise, then who inhabits your complaint?” That has made me avoid complaining (kinda 🥸). Maybe you saw the reel I did recently about Corrie Ten Boom- a non-Jewish woman put in the Nazi concentration camps for harboring Jews. She had reached a breaking point in the camp because the cell they were put in was infested with fleas. She recalled telling her sister, “I just can’t do this anymore.”  Her sister Betsie, who was later killed in the camp, said “I know what to do, I read it in my Bible last night.”

“pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So they began to pray. They gave thanks for the guards, the women who they now could share the gospel with, and also…the fleas. Yes they gave thanks even for the fleas. They soon were teaching the gospel to as many women who could fit into cellblock 28. They worshipped and were never confronted by guards even though sharing the gospel was forbidden.

When Corrie was released many years later from the camp, as the lone survivor of her entire family, she was able to ask a guard why  the guards never came to cellblock 28. The guard answered, “The fleas.”

What was the breaking point for Corrie, what at the time was so intolerable she supposed she couldn’t go on, was the very thing that made teaching the gospel possible.

So no matter what you’re feeling, tolerating, and walking through remember the words of both Paul and Betsie, pray without ceasing and give thanks for everything.

“The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Grateful