The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year. It’s a time to gather with family and celebrate with friends. It’s a time to laugh, eat, sing, give, receive and love. The holidays are often filled with many memorable and joy-filled moments.
But if I’m honest, the holidays can also be stressful. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve experienced anxiety and worry during a season when all should be merry. The stress of shopping and the worry of syncing calendars with family; anxiety over money, traveling, and taking time off of work; finding time to spend with everyone and dealing with expectation in more ways than one–the tension during the holidays is real and it can easily steal our joy.
We all stress over different situations and face different challenges during this time of year. We typically deal with these situations in a few ways. We might pretend like we are happy when we aren’t. We may ignore the issues at hand, only to find that they resurface year after year. We might drink, eat, or spend too much. We may tell ourselves to push through and we will find joy after the new year.
Yet, I’ve never talked to anyone who didn’t want to have joy during the holiday season. No one wants to be unhappy. We all want to experience joy in the midst of the holiday season and beyond.
Years ago I had a breakthrough. My wife pointed out to me how I lacked joy around Christmas. At first I ignored it, but eventually I had to be honest. She was right. Joy was absent. I was out of people and circumstances to blame. The holidays actually presented an opportunity for me to look at why I lacked joy. For me, it was multifaceted. I allowed my current situation, stress, and worry to consume me, stealing my ability to be present in the moment. I also allowed my past, my regret, my issues, and growing up in a divorced home (where holidays weren’t always enjoyable) to dictate how I lived in the moment.
I was faced with the opportunity to rethink the way I was living. The Greek word for conversion (metanoia) means: “to rethink — to question one’s own and common way of living; to allow God to enter into the criteria of one’s life.” I had a conversion that Christmas. I began to rethink the way I was living and I asked Jesus to show me a new way to live. And he did.
What I know is that God wants us to have joy. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). When we become aware of the areas in our lives where we lack joy, all we have to do is ask. It may take time. We may have to change. We may have to do some work. We may have to face our issues. But God wants to give us abundant joy. The great news about this time of year is that it provides us with a platform to grow. If we are aware, it can illuminate areas of our lives that need growth, catapulting us to a new life of joy.
The first step to having joy during the holiday season is to remember that Jesus came into this world in a very chaotic and stressful time. The first advent was messy and far from ideal. Jesus doesn’t sit on the peripheral of our crazy lives, but enters into the very heart of them. Just as Jesus entered into our world over two thousand years ago, he desires to enter into our lives today. The second step is to invite Jesus in. Invite him into all of the negative emotions you might experience. Ask Jesus to help you with whatever you are facing, to walk alongside you and lead you into greater freedom. He will. Lastly, hold fast to the truth that Jesus wants to bring you new life. “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5). We have joy when we live free from our old ways and embrace the new life God has for us.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you rethink your situation and teach you a new way of living joyfully during the holidays. When Jesus is our source of joy, there is nothing that can rob us of it. Enjoy the holidays!
Paul George is a Catholic speaker, teacher, and author who co-founded Adore Ministries and served as its president for eight years. He is the author of Rethink Happiness: Dare to Embrace God and Experience True Joy.
