It’s not hard for me to know what to do when a holiday was difficult or stressful. The challenge is to live after a really joyous one. Monday has come around and it is time to return to work or school or to an empty house which we liked just fine full; now is a good time to be on guard. The fact is, though we are redeemed, we sometimes feel a little uncomfortable with glory and beauty. Here are some perfectly biblical ways to tear up some of the good God has given us. I know because I’ve done them, if not this year (yet), at least in other years.
1. Gossip. Now that Aunt Hildebrand is out of the house, start talking about what a wicked tongue she has. Guaranteed joy-killer.
Proverbs 17:9
He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
2. Harbor bitterness. Remember that one horrible moment when you felt everyone was picking on you. Sure, you may have spoken an ill-timed word, but you certainly didn’t mean to. And they all made you feel like the shrimp-and-pimiento dip Aunt Hildebrand brought but no one wanted to touch.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
3. Get stressed. After all, you’ve got exams coming in ten days. In fact, why did you stop studying at all to have a good time with family and friends? Look how much you have to do! What a fool you are. Start pulling all-nighters now!
Luke 12: 22-26
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifea? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
I can think of many many more than these, all of which I have done — have a fight with your [fill-in-the-blank], start dreading Christmas now, throw yourself into busyness…Instead, I’ll close with a prayer my heart needs right now and perhaps yours does too:
“Dear Lord,
We need you. We thank you for our Thanksgivings, for both the empty and the full, the sour and the sweet, the quiet and the noisy. Quiet our hearts now; help us to seek YOUR pleasure and to receive it and rest in it. Be with us each moment of this day as we “re-enter.” Draw kindness and compassion from our hearts. Help us to look at others as Jesus would; help us to walk where you want us to walk today, living out of the power of Your gospel, not out of our own power.”
In the name of Your precious Son, we pray. Amen
