If you’re reading this, chances are either you or someone you know is in a difficult season. Otherwise, topics like this aren’t usually the ones people gravitate toward, especially during the holidays. But for the one who is weary, I hope you can find some rest here.

I don’t know what it is for you that’s making this season difficult. For my family and I, it’s loss. We experienced a significant loss over the summer that was a whirlwind in itself, but six months later I feel like I’m still trying to catch my breath. 

Difficult events often carry ripples that extend beyond the events themselves, don’t they? The good news, though, is that Jesus gives us hope through those, too. 

Some of my favorite verses in the Bible come from John 1:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” –John 1:4-5 (ESV)

Even in the years that we have a hard time feeling the hope of Christmas, we are reminded of its unchanging truth. Rather than being untouched by or naive to the pain of this world, Jesus endured it even to the point of death on the cross—to make a way for you and for me.

Jesus, Our Rest

My season and your season will look different. For some of you, this year has been characterized by a whirlwind of events that you are doing everything you can to keep up with. For others, your life may have just come to a screeching halt that is more unnerving than the whirlwind that preceded it. 

In both situations, we find refuge. Because of Jesus, we find rest. We don’t run to Him out of blind faith or hype. That isn’t strong enough to carry us.

Instead, we run to Jesus because He’s our mighty Savior. Our secure refuge in life’s battering storms. Our Good Shepherd. The One who leads us beside still waters. Even in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23).

We run to Him because His faithfulness has been shown time and time again throughout the ages. 

We could go back and look at Romans 8:28-29 like we did earlier this year: 

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” –Romans 8:28-29a (NKJV)

It’s still true. But if you’re feeling like I have been, maybe you need to be reminded of this one: 

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” –Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

And another favorite: 

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” –Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

Our rest and our strength are found in Jesus, not our striving.

The God of All Comfort

If you’re in a heartbreaking trial and have been pushing down the pain in order to push yourself to endure, maybe you need to be reminded that: 

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” –Psalm 34:18 (NLT)

And again: 

“You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” –Psalm 56:8 (NKJV)

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” –2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NASB)

Yes, there will be trials. Yes, we are called to endure. But God cares about the pain we carry, too.

Even knowing He would raise Lazarus again, Jesus wept with Mary and Martha upon seeing their grief (John 11:32-35). He cares about your pain, and He cares about you. 

Jesus didn’t come to pretend that pain and brokenness don’t exist. Acknowledging that reality, He leads us forward through it as our Good Shepherd.

Hope That Endures

All of the nuances that take place in everyone’s unique stories can’t be covered here. I wish I could write this in a way that accurately covered them all. But there’s one more passage I want to leave with you.

One night not long after my family member was admitted to the hospital, I was praying hard for healing, trying to push away those creeping fears that the outcome wasn’t going to be what we all were praying for. I went to bed that night reassuring myself that God is good and He hears our prayers. 

The next morning, I received an email with the verse of the day:

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” –Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)

“No more death?” I hoped the timing of that didn’t mean what I was worried it meant. 

A few weeks later, we found that it did.

For some of you this holiday season, you’re wrestling because God didn’t answer your prayer the way you thought He would and knew He could. Maybe like us, you even saw His hand moving and know He was in that situation with you, but for you, the answer was no. 

You believe that Jesus brings healing, justice, and freedom, but for the situation weighing on you, that didn’t happen or hasn’t happened yet.

The words of Revelation 21:4 are comforting, but I love them even more because of what follows in verse 5: 

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” –Revelation 21:5 (NKJV)

In every situation we are reminded that, for the child of God, a day is coming where pain no longer can touch us or our loved ones. The joy that is coming is just as real a part of our story as the pain that weighs on us today. 

Light in the Darkness

Holding on to hope doesn’t mean that we deny the pain. Instead, it acknowledges the reality of our season while pointing to the even greater reality that our Savior has overcome. He isn’t untouched by or naive to the pain of this world. He is well-acquainted with it:

“He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.” –Isaiah 53:3-5 (ESV)

We can keep stepping forward because we’re following Him.

And maybe eventually in some small way, we can treasure the glimmers of light that still find a way to shine through. Maybe it looks like the friends we’ve come to both laugh and cry with, the new experiences we’ve been pushed into as we try to find a new normal, or the way our definition of what’s actually important has changed. But if all you can do this holiday season is fall before Him with a weak, “I need You,” that’s okay, too.

Hard seasons aren’t wasted when we’re in the hands of a mighty, loving, and sovereign God.

We overcome because Jesus overcame. God’s words are both true and faithful. They cannot fail.

Music for the Journey

Worth The Wait by Phil Wickham

Wonderful by CAIN (ft. Steven Curtis Chapman)