Beauty out of ashes

By Jeff Becraft

The Christmas season brings a variety of responses from various people.  Some people are filled with joy and gladness… and others feel discouraged and depressed. We all are facing different circumstances. For some, this is their first Christmas without a loved one; and for us, it is the first Christmas without both my parents.

I think most of us deal with what I call the “Christmas card syndrome.”  Take a typical Christmas card with a Currier & Ives scene on it (not to blame them) of a glowing house with candles burning in every window and everyone outside in a sleigh being drawn by a horse while the snow is falling.

Now, exactly how many fire codes are being broken in that scene?

And who said that that was what it is supposed to be?

The first Christmas wasn’t like that.  Now I have never been a woman and I have never been pregnant (and I’m sure if I ever was I would be in the National Inquirer).  But even being a modern, over-indulged, ever-complaining (“why is this computer taking 4 hours to update?!”) male, I can’t even imagine riding 100 miles on a donkey.  With no Chick-fil-A’s, no Cook Outs, not even a Wawa gas station anywhere.  (If you don’t know what a Wawa is, you have to go outside of SC for them… our family hunts them down.)  I can’t even fathom being 9 months pregnant and riding on the back of a donkey for that long.  And exactly how many women out there would like to lay their first born into a trough where they feed farm animals?

There was pain, fatigue, rejection, loneliness, suffering… and glory.  There was beauty out of ashes.  Something Greater was happening than everything being just right.

The difference between what we think something ought to be and what it actually is… is called disappointment and frustration.

While we have pulled the boxes and decorations out of the attic, and we will put forth the effort to make this time special, it is not having everything just right that brings the splendor.  It is in the midst of everyday life… with joys, failures, and disappointments… knowing that you are valued and wanted.  The first Christmas says so.

Even if everything is not just right with each of us, we can still bring hope to people around us and lift them up.

That is bringing beauty out of ashes.  And that is glorious.

Merry Christmas!… and Happy Hanukkah to everyone!

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].