The Carols of the King - Pt 11

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15 ESV).

If there’s one song that has the “Christmas Spirit” it’s “The Christmas Song.” It is one of the great classics, so I’ve chosen a classic version of it. It is performed by Nat King Cole. The video version is well done, you may find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I65_S78WHJY. It makes us think of a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. We may even imagine carolers coming to our doors while we offer them some mulled apple cider fresh off the stove. We may attend parties at friends’ houses and services at church. And, even for those of us who live in Texas, we may get all bundled up on Christmas morning with our families even though there’s not one snowflake falling anywhere within the state! Of course we often have a different picture painted for us in reality. In the midst of our Christmas illusions, our children storm might be storming into the room yelling “Mom!” or “Dad!” because someone hit them, or because one of them is using the other’s iPad without asking. Our prayer then becomes, “Oh, for the love of all that is good and right in the world, can we not stay in our little piece of Christmas paradise just a tad bit longer?” That’s life, isn’t it? No matter how perfect we try to paint the canvas of our lives, there will always be something extra put on it that wasn’t in our minds when we dreamed it. There will be something that disrupts our perfect picture. It may be something that breaks our heart. Perhaps it is a relationship that ended, a loved one who died too early for us, or the betrayal of a friend. God is never surprised by the interruptions in our lives. In fact, nothing surprises Him. Don’t mistake bad things happening in your life as His loss of control. No, this is not about His ability but about His sovereignty. While we may wish that bad things would never happen in our lives, they will happen. Jesus said we’d have trouble (cf. John 16:33), but He also promised that He’d calm us in the midst of it (cf. John 14:16). So, no matter where we are in life, whether we expected to be on the path we are on or not, rest assured, that our God will make all the broken things beautiful. God works for the good of those who love Him, who’ve been called according to His purpose (cf. Romans 8:28). That is what we really celebrate on this wonderful day!