I just wasn’t in the Christmas Spirit on Christmas Day 1996. Maybe it was because I was up until 1:00 a.m. putting together a couple of Christmas presents. Or maybe it was because I was disturbed at 5:00 a.m. – not by my children, but by the fire department. They were banging on my front door and informed me that our church was burning. Was I dreaming? It sure seemed like it for the next few hours. By the time it was all over (about 10:00 a.m.) our church building was completely destroyed. Many church members were at the house and we were all crying – trying hard to believe what we were going through – especially on Christmas Day!
We had planned on going to my in-laws for Christmas Day celebration in southern Ohio. We had to call them and let them know we were going to be late. We left in the early afternoon. We came back the next day.
What started out as a bad Christmas ended up being a blessing. We had a church family meeting at First Baptist. Everyone was there, including media. What happened at that meeting was a true unity of our church. Over the next few months miracle after miracle happened. What some thought impossible happened. Within 10 months we were in our new building. Most said we would be lucky if we could settle on the architectural plans. God brought the right people at the right time to get the job done. It was a good ending to our church’s ‘Christmas Carol.’
Before his first ‘Christmas,’ Joseph didn’t exactly jump for joy when he heard of Mary’s pregnancy In fact, he decided to break of the engagement. things changed dramatically when God explained it all to him in a dream:
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph.. do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’ (Matt. 1:20).
Matthew’s account sounds somewhat unemotional, but Joseph must have felt quite relieved when he awoke. His humbug situation was turning into a hallelujah outcome.
What are you doing to make sure your Christmas will have a good ending? Are there some humbug potholes in your path? Will Christ be honored through the way you celebrate Christmas? Has something unexpected intervened in your holiday plans? If you’re feeling humbug-like, why don’t you try saying this hallelujah prayer:
Lord, I feel humbug about _________________________. Help me to find hallelujah in this situation. Amen.
My prayer is that your Christmas will be a HALLELUJAH CHRISTMAS!