Christmas in a Season of StruggleSample

When It’s Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

“I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord!” Luke 2:10-11 (GNT)

Jesus came at Christmas to heal our hurts, including our hidden ones.

No matter who you meet, anywhere around the world, you will always have one thing in common: Everybody has a hidden wound.

Everyone has a wound they’re carrying that’s hidden from everybody else. You may be hiding it well. It may look like you’re successful and happy and you’ve got it all together, but we all know you don’t—because nobody does!

Maybe something was said or done to you a long time ago, and it hurt. Or maybe you have regrets about what you said or did to someone, and you’ve hidden it away. You don’t want anybody to know about it because it’s painful and embarrassing.

Then Christmas comes around, and it’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year—a season to celebrate. But in reality, a lot of people are lonely and hurting and dealing with unresolved issues with their families. They have to work even harder over the holidays to keep the effects of their hidden wounds from surfacing.

No matter how you are hurting this Christmas, Jesus Christ can heal you. He can take your resentment, worry, guilt, fear, bitterness, boredom, and pain and cover it with the light of his love. This is what it means for Jesus to be the Light of the World.

Doctors today have discovered there is healing power in light. They use light therapy to stimulate parts of the brain that have been damaged. Lasers are used in all kinds of surgeries. I had laser surgery on my eyes many years ago to restore my sight.

It’s pretty amazing what doctors can do today to heal people. But only God can heal a broken heart, spirit, relationship, or dream. He came to earth to heal your hurt.

When Jesus was born, an angel declared, “I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord!” (Luke 2:10-11 GNT).

The good news the angels delivered on the first Christmas is good news for you today too. There is hope for whatever hurts you may have pushed away. When you bring your hurts into the light of Christ, he can heal you and restore your joy.

This devotional © 2024 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.