The Battle's Raging this Christmas. Can You Feel It?

The past week has been tough.  Reading a blog post by a very pure-intentioned woman about how she's reclaiming Christmas for Jesus left me questioning everything we do around here, from how we celebrate the holidays to how we're rearing our children, all in a very negative light.  Pride masquerading as insecurity.  Then the shootings in Connecticut lead to an, let's say, "interesting" newsfeed on Facebook that made me decide to deactivate my account because I couldn't handle it, on so many levels.  Then once off Facebook, I started to wonder if I have any friends.  When there's not constant "conversation" happening all day long in cyberspace, I'm not sure what to do with myself and I realize how much of my life I don't pay attention to, because my mind is being tossed all around by what is on the minds of so many others.

Just before Christmas my life was bubbling

 with joylessness, doubt, fear, anger, frustration, and grief.

I sent a help-please-pray-for-me! email to a friend that read like this:

Inside my head, I'm feeling kinda emotional about things, wondering how I'm supposed to be doing life: Christmas, engaging with the church, schooling, how to also have real relationships with people, where I and our family should be serving, etc.  I try too hard most of the time to have everything figured out.  That's not my job, I know; Lord, have mercy!  I so want to be free, to hear God's voice and follow with joy, rather than wandering around feeling burdened by feeling like I'm doing everything wrong ... as if there's only one exact right way to do everything: parenting, marriage, serving others, church, etc.  I don't know if any of that makes sense, but you could pray for freedom?  I really want the Lord to free me from all of these ties from the old-self that keep me in bondage: people pleasing, worship of reputation, fear of failure, and so on.  Perhaps the evil one is trying really hard to keep me from joy this Christmas.  I'm sure that's part of it, too.

Sidenote, asking a friend to pray for you is THE BEST!  But I digress...  (but no, seriously, ask someone to pray for you today; it is THE BEST!)

Shortly after sending that email, Colin woke up and the kids were still sleeping (a miracle!) and God used him to help me sort through my brain-jumble, encourage me, and put me right-side up again.  My dear husband has to do that for me more often than not.  God bless him.

Then, as I got ready for the day and did my shower-thinking, I thought, Man, I bet the evil one is far more than a small "part of it."  He's a real enemy who would love to see me focused on myself rather than Christ in this Advent and Christmas season.

If you are a Christian, you have an enemy.

He is real.  He hates God, so he hates you.

And he would love to RUIN your Christmas.

But there's Good News!!

Christmas is about that enemy being defeated by a power greater than itself: light overcoming darkness, life triumphing over death.  The cosmic struggle between good and evil began when Eve and Adam tasted the fruit, but when Jesus was born, oh, how the demons must have trembled!  All the prophesy was coming to fruition, and the enemy was not happy about it.


Christmas is no quaint story about a baby in a manger.  It is about war - the fight for the souls of men.  So let's look alive, especially over this next week!  Our enemy will pick at our weaknesses to take our eyes off of our Strength.  By Him and His grace and mercy to us, we will stand and worship our Lord each day, even as we see the day approaching.  So whatever you've got going on that's dragging you down, when you feel like you should be all "merry and bright", could very well be an enemy attack.  Don't wilt or wallow.  Fight back with the Word and Prayer, and watch God fight for you.

Again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!