The end of a season, a holiday, or a time in one’s life can be sad and disappointing. However, if we have something to look forward too, we can focus on that instead.
I always look forward to my friend’s birthday because it sets off the season of holidays. It goes birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and my birthday (with a couple of other birthdays thrown in there). I look forward to these holiday’s the rest of the year which makes my birthday mark the end of “something to look forward to.”
Christmas or New Year’s is usually that day of “now that it’s over what do I have to look forward to?” That’s a sad reality that many of us face. So how do we overcome it?
Although it may be the day after Christmas, a day to throw away boxes and say goodbye to family, it doesn’t have to be a sad day. Maybe the sadness doesn’t hit you for a few days since the items you got for Christmas are still new and exciting. But we all eventually reach that day of “now what?”
Jesus is here. The reason we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate Jesus’ birth and the King of Kings is with us all year around. We don’t have to be sad that Christmas is over because Christmas signifies the beginning. The beginning of sins being forgiven and the beginning of grace. Because of Jesus, we can be with God. We are cleansed and forgiven.
Jesus is our hope for tomorrow. Yes, He has come. But we can look forward to all the miracles He can perform in our lives if we shift our focus onto Him.
Even when school and work returns and a break is months away, we can find hope to keep putting one step in front of the other. We only have to look an inch away to find hope because God is as near as our next breath.
EMILY DICKINSON 