12 Days of Christmas: Day #7 Jesus is FAITHFUL

As Christmas and the new year approaches, and final preparations are demanding our urgent attention, we can easily feel uncertain and experience unrest, even in the best of circumstances. We can find it difficult to slow down, and perhaps even difficult to do things with joy. 

All of these struggles are made exponentially more paralyzing when we are in the depths of very real ongoing struggles with anxiety, relationship tension, chronic illness, hopeless diagnoses, loss, and grief. We can find ourselves struggling to deck the halls, to sing songs of joy, and to have peace, hope, and joy. 

When struggles, oppositions, and pressures are mounting we can find ourselves completely overwhelmed. In these seasons, we can readily find ourselves echoing Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations 3:17-18 that say, “my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”

Have you felt this anguish and despair during the Christmas season? The contrast of these feelings and the overarching focus of the holiday season can feel like an insurmountable chasm. 

And, yet, we can all have hope–much as Jeremiah was able to find as well. How did Jeremiah find his peace, happiness, endurance, and hope restored? 

He recalled the Lord’s faithfulness. He remembered the ways His God had been faithful. 

“But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!”(Lam 3:21-23)

Faithfulness. Loyal, constant, steadfast, true. These are all true of our Lord Jesus Christ.

His love never ceases; it is faithful.

His mercies never end; they are faithful to keep coming (every morning). 

He is faithful and unchanging. 

Even when our circumstances don’t change, we can rest in this truth about our God, and about our Lord and Savior. He brings new mercies each day and His faithfulness never ceases. And this brings hope. 

This calms the anxious mind, slows the racing heart, and gives strength to the weary soul. 

And, when we are in Christ, and we find ourselves in times of unrest, we can “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23). We can draw near to the Lord in full confidence of our salvation, and in full confidence of His faithfulness. We can rest in the truth that He is faithful, even when we are faithless.

Will you rest in His faithfulness? Will you trust that His mercies are new this morning, and again tomorrow?   

How can you pause to recognize the faithfulness of God in your life, and especially in this last year? 

How can you hold fast to the confession of your hope–to the faithfulness of Jesus? How can this help you respond to whatever this season holds with certain hope and even joy? 

Take a moment to pray. Thank God for His great faithfulness again right now. Thank Him for His constant grace that brings fresh mercies each morning. Confess to Him ways you can become stuck in your circumstances and easily forget His mercy and faithfulness. Ask Him to help you see His mercies with fresh eyes; ask Him to help you recall and record the many ways He has faithfully carried you. Thank Him for the incredible gift of grace that never runs out and gives you joy in your heart, peace in your soul, and hope for tomorrow.