A Faith Journal

I’ve been trying to come up with something to write for today, but I was getting nothing. I decided to just post one from 2023. When I opened up the post, I knew God was using my past self to teach/preach to my current self. I see the ignorance in my past self about grief, but truly it is good advice that I’ve not been taking. Thanks God for the reminder. Your peace is not as we typically see it as but can be found in our communities as we grieve.

Yesterday we looked at what biblical peace is, wholeness. Many of us don’t feel whole, during this time of year especially. Family is not close, or we’ve lost a family member recently and this season highlights those losses. There are several other reasons why we might not feel whole, but they all result in a chaotic season. God wants us to feel whole, but we can’t do it alone. We need community to achieve this, which may seem odd, since opening ourselves to others may bring tension to our comfort level. In other words, peace feels less likely when others are involved. However, with the right people, peace is possible. James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” To pray for each other, we must first be in community with others.

Here are a few examples of where community can be found:
1.   This should probably be obvious, but ask God to lead you to the correct people to help you,
2.   Family and friends (they already know you and want to know how you are feeling),
3.   A counselor or group that has experience with your situation (a church group, therapy group, AA, etc.).

I’ve found that when we let others know how we feel, typically they are experiencing or have experienced something similar. Also, instead of trying to ignore the missing loved ones during this time, you can feel more at peace when you talk about some fond memeories you had with them, do something they would enjoy or find some way to include their memory in the season. It will be emotional but can also be healing.

Lord,
We seek Your peace this Christmas season. We have hurts that get highlighted during the holidays and we really want to have healing in those areas. Bring the correct people into our lives that can pray with us and help us heal during this Christmas season. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.