This year, I decided to end the year in a slightly different way; by going on a solo trip to France. While I was there, I attended a women’s Bible Study at a church. I just wanted to connect with other believers and what better way to connect than through a time spent studying God’s word.
It was such a great time connecting with other women of faith. This is just one of the ways that I am pushing myself to be part of Godly community more as I explained in Entry #3. Man did I have to push past the reluctance that came in the night before lol. But I thank God I went.
Towards the end of the meeting, we were each offering up prayer requests and one of the things that came up was the feeling of tiredness and stress that people were experiencing this Christmas time. I know for me, in the weeks leading up to this trip, I could feel it. The tiredness, the dread etc.
Then the thought came to me; why is it that around this time we feel all these emotions when Jesus, who is the reason for the season, came so that we can have life and have it more abundantly? Why is it that at a time where we celebrate Jesus coming to the world so that we can be saved and have true peace in God, is the time where there seems to be more stress and unease?
Lessons from the story of Mary and Martha
As I am writing this, the Bible story of when Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha comes to mind. In Luke 10:38-42, we see that while Jesus was at their home, Martha was distracted by all the preparations that were to be made. But Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said.
Many of us around this time are so overwhelmed with all the expectations that need to be met around Christmas. Many of us are stressed out about presents, Christmas dinner, what the house will look like, decorations and the like. A lot of us are also stressed out about the fact that it is nearing the end of the year and start frantically prepping for the new year.
But I am reminded that just as Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, that is the same posture I need to have. No matter the goals I have for next year and beyond, for Thriving Introvertly, for Christmas celebrations etc, I need to remember to not allow the enemy to rob me of the peace, stillness and ease that can be found by just sitting with Jesus.
What sitting and listening represents to me is calmness, awe, reverence, peace, and stillness in God’s presence. Maybe we would not be as unsettled, tired, or stressed if we just released all the weight society tries to place on us even at this time of the year.
Releasing things that do not bring true peace and joy
My trip to France really shone a light on many things for me personally but one of them I will share is what truly makes me happy and brings me joy. When we release the things that do not do that for us, then we can experience one of the true reasons why Jesus came to die for us; to have life and have it more abundantly.
The spirit of suicide, depression, and severe stress have no choice but to bow when we surrender ourselves wholly and authentically to God and just sit with him to the point where we no longer feel the burden of performing, meeting expectations or having everything all figured out.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be having everything all figured out; that’s too stressful and not as exciting. This walk with Christ is about sitting at His feet, walking with Him, being obedient to His voice and experiencing everything He has for us. That’s it. Why do we have to make things so complicated?
Lets live free in Christ and do the things that bring us true peace and joy. We tend to forget how much influence we have on our own lives. We can choose to reject anything that is out of alignment with having freedom, peace and rest in Christ.
Angry like Martha?
Sometimes we may get angry that others are not as frantically preparing or stressed out as we are around things including Christmas. This is exactly what happened in the story; Martha was not happy that Mary was not helping her. Jesus’ response was fascinating. He said in verses 41-42 of Luke Chapter 10 ““Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her””. This reminds me that all the things we stress over are not that important when Jesus is present.
When Jesus is present, all that can fall to the wayside. He is the only constant in our lives; never wavering, always present. In his presence, we can rest. But when we focus our energy on things that are fleeting and don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things; all that stress and anxiety can creep in.
Let’s not be angry when others seem to be more relaxed and chilled back around this time; instead let’s take a page out of their book and follow suit. This is not to say that we should not be doing important things, but it just means that we should not let those things consume us and overwhelm us to the point where we forget what truly matters and lose our peace.
How does all this apply to me?
So here are a couple of things I learnt personally that may apply to you:
- Take more time being intentional about sitting at the feet of Jesus like Mary did to experience true peace around this time.
- Learn to detach yourself from all the “doing” and reconnect with things that matter the most
- Do not allow the enemy to rob you of the gift that is Jesus or make you forget and miss out on experiencing the true reasons He came for you and I
I know you probably hear this all the time, but honestly let’s remember that Jesus truly is the reason for the season. And anything that is not in alignment with what He came to earth to accomplish in our lives, then we need to fight back and not accept it.
Instead of all the frantic worrying and stressing, let’s reach out to others who may feel alone, let’s show kindness and love to people around us, let’s redefine what Christmas truly means for us and how we are truly happy. Let’s spend more time as a family, individuals, and friends at the feet of Jesus and let that peace that transcends all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Let’s breathe.
I now think that Christmas being just before New Year is not a coincidence but perhaps a strategic way for us to be reminded that when we have Jesus, we have all that we could ever need. When we focus on things of the Kingdom, all other things will truly be added unto us.
Well, that’s it for this diary entry.
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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!!
Until the next time,
