Hope for the Holidays {All Things New}

As Christmas celebrations begin to come to a close, we find ourselves in anticipation of a brand new year.  In many ways, the new year feels like an opportunity for a fresh start.  We resolve to read more, work out more, be more organized, more patient, more loving…  

But inside many of us long for the new year to bring something more meaningful than better eating habits and more trips to the gym.     

We long for the shattered pieces of our hearts to be brought back together. 
We long for the undoing of all the pain and sorrow of this world.
We long for the the day when HE will come and wipe every tear from our eyes and make all things new — the day when we will see HIM face to face and embrace our precious children once again.

But these are not the sort of longings that can be packaged up in a pretty resolution or fulfilled by good intentions and hard work.

…

I was sitting on my living room floor the other night, folding laundry after everyone else in my home had gone to bed.  Christmas music was playing softly in the background when suddenly some of the lyrics jumped out at me. 

“O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel”

As I listened to the words of this song that I have heard and sung countless times, I was struck for the first time by how closely they echoed the cries of my own heart.  Oh!  How I long for the coming of my Lord!

“Come Lord!  Set me free from this misery!  Disperse the gloom that has overshadowed me!  Usher in death’s final defeat! Cheer our hearts with your coming!  I so desperately need you!  Come Lord, Jesus!”

Do these words resonate with you at all?

The holiday season has been marketed as a magical time of year when all is right with the world and dreams come true.  But all the wrapping paper and LED lights in the world can’t disguise the brokenness of this world.  We know all too well that everything is not all right with the world, even during the holidays…. sometimes especially during the holidays.  In fact, for many of you, it may feel as though nothing is right. 

The death of a child is not right.
A fatal diagnosis is not right. 
An absent heartbeat is not right. 
Planning a funeral instead of a first birthday is not right. 

In this world that groans under the weight of sin, things will never be all right.  But as we wait with eager longing for eternity, let the words of this song offer you comfort and hope.

Emmanuel — God with us — has come, and He has swallowed up death through the victory of His resurrection. 

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
-1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Our babies’ deaths have been our devastating loss, but their immeasurable gain! They are home.  They have been given victory over death, and are now able to see and know the Lord fully!  They are worshiping Christ and treasuring Him above all else! 

One glorious day, we who believe in Christ will experience this too, as we trade the sorrows of this world for fullness of joy in the presence of our Savior.  This eternally-rich reality will be ours, and it will be profoundly more than we could ever think or imagine it to be.

And so even as my heart cries out to the Lord for deliverance from the sorrow that I now bear, with my next breath I am able to Rejoice! Rejoice!  because I know that our Emmanuel will come again.  He is coming back!  The day has not yet arrived when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, but it is coming.  And this promise, that has been bought with the precious blood of Christ, holds stunning significance for our present lives and gives us confidence that this new year can be a year filled with hope and rejoicing.

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.”
-Isaiah 25:8

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
-Revelation 21:3-5

As this year draws to an end, hold tight to the promise that HE is making all things new.  No matter, what this new year holds for you, you can anchor yourself in the hope of Christ, in His victory over death, and in the promise of His return. 

He shall come!

Ashlee is a Content Director for Hope Mommies. She and her husband, Jesse, have four children on earth and two little ones in Heaven.
You can get to know her more by reading her blog, https://beyondundone.wordpress.com/