We’ve all seen someone who is completely lost in a moment of carefree happiness. The person dancing to the music while driving down the road, or a young child laughing so hard they roll on the floor heaving and snorting. It is the kind of moment that many of our seasonal songs seem to be written for. Songs like, Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas, or Jingle Bell Rock, or Frosty the Snowman. While these songs and their light-hearted sentiments may make many smile and talk about the “Christmas spirit,” there are many others who just want to turn the radio off. For many, the Christmas season shines a difficult spotlight on hearts that are anything but jolly, and on troubles that are pressing and not miles away.

To those who feel heavy laden this Christmas, I hope to bring a word of encouragement. The child who was born in the manger become the Savior who declared:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)

“If it were only that easy!” some may say. They have prayed and read their Bibles and gone to church… but the sadness remains, or the crushing heaviness, or the sense of anxiousness and distress, or some other burden that defies words to describe it.

For such a one, Christmas is still for you. Perhaps even more so for you. Whether life’s crushing load is the result of tragic or dreadful circumstances, or the diseases of body and mind that afflict us in this fallen world, it may be that the hope of Christmas will be demonstrated most powerfully in you as a result.

It has often pleased God to use those for whom joy is hardest to teach us the most about joy. He uses those who felt most hopeless to teach us about hope. Those whose faith was often thinned to an almost transparent thread have often taught us the most about the power and strength of faith.

Think of Job, David, or Elijah. Think of the apostle Paul. Think of people like Augustine, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, William Cowper, or David Brainerd. The songs, letters, books, poems, and biographies of these alone have been the biblical and historical lighthouse of truth about joy, peace, contentment, hope, and the goodness of God. Yet, all these men struggled with what we would today call depression, anxiety, trauma, and more. Nearly all of them, including every person listed in the Bible, even despaired of life itself at some point.

It seems clear, then, that it was not in spite of these struggles, but because of them, that they saw so clearly and powerfully the truth of those things only the work of God Himself could produce in them. As it was for them, so it often is today. I have learned the most about contentment from those who must daily fight for it. I have seen the purest joy in those who suffer deeply. Peace that passes all understanding is found in the hearts of those for whom peace is impossible unless it passes all understanding!

For some, this life will not have many “holly, jolly, Christmas” celebrations. That is okay. Christmas can mean something much deeper and more precious. It is a reminder of God’s promises that are made sure in His Son. Promises such as peace with, and peace from, a Father in heaven. A Savior who will never leave or forsake us and who understands all our infirmities. The Spirit of God who indwells us and makes all the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit possible even when we are at the end of ourselves. And, yes, rest for our souls.

The first Christmas didn’t have a single jingle bell. But it did have peace-on-earth in a manger. So, God rest ye merry, weary brother or sister. It may not be the best time of the year, but it is a very good time.