We love the holidays because of course, we adore our blessed Savior, and Jesus IS the reason for the season. In fact, he’s the reason for every day, and that’s why the holidays should be a time for some serious joy. We wait the whole year to pull out all the stops and ought to celebrate him like nobody’s business. We’ve got the beautiful lights and decorations, people are in a more generous mood, and there’s an inspired vibe in the air that’s infectious. There’s cuteness and coziness everywhere, and we get to share special times with family and friends. Even though it’s hectic, and some of us spend way too much money, it’s just an all-around time to make more precious memories. When it’s all over though, and we’ve got the bills to show for it, we need a strategy to avoid the post-holiday blahs, so that we can keep that good energy and optimism flowing all year long.
When the Christmas Season is over, for us spiritual folks, it’s meaning and celebration is meant to be the birth of something new. To look back, regress, and try to finagle sameness just shouldn’t be a part of our plans. The New Year should symbolize a deeper sense of gratitude for having made it through the previous year. It should give us a renewed commitment to go higher in every sense of the word. Another 365 days of life is proof positive that nothing stays the same. We’re a year older, we can’t go back for a redo, and time waits for no one; it moves ahead. It should inspire us to do the same, and do so in a way that cements our intention to reach out and grab all that God has in store for us.
This year is going to be different. Things WILL change, and you will be presented with a distinct choice to leave the things that didn’t work behind. It’s a mistake to think that things will be the same, because even if you do think this way, life will unfold to prove you wrong. So, the critical question for all of us is what will we do differently. My challenge to every believer is to use the opportunity of each new morning to provide God with a landing strip to bless them, and to bless someone through them. That’s all we can ever ask for really. We have the excellent privilege to believe in the goodness of God and to let Him work through our faith.
Some of us have got so much unbelief in our minds and hearts that we’re just paralyzing the move of the Spirit on our behalves. In Matthew 13, God gives us a record of Jesus Christ going back once more to his hometown, Nazareth. As was his ministry and custom, he set about to do good works and taught in the synagogues. Those familiar with his family knew him as the son of a carpenter, and refused to accept him as a teacher. They shunned him because he didn’t have the academic pedigree that teachers were expected to have. His wisdom and good works they couldn’t deny, but they found the lack of rabbinical education and his family’s background adequate reason to be prejudice against Jesus. Matthew 13:58 (NKJV) tells us, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Because of our unbelief, many of us are prejudiced against our own futures. They are slated to be filled with blessings and increase, but we will not see it because we refuse to believe in the greatness of our destinies.
In Matthew 16:19(NLT), Jesus Christ tells us, “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” The problem for many of us is that we’re forbidding the right things and permitting the wrong things. I’m not suggesting that the grind of life is without its challenges. It’s no joke, but the whole point of everything we experience in life is to get us to think and seek higher, love bigger, and be better in Christ.
We can’t remain in our cocoons. We ought to understand that God’s way is growth, increase, and expansion. He desires that we allow Him to expand His power IN us, and He will not violate our free-will to do it. Some of us will think, “Holidays over. Back to the ho-hum of business as usual.” We’re training our minds and hearts to stay the same when everything in our environment will be moving at a different pace. The Lord is doing great things all around us when He wants to do things in and through us. We need to grant Him access through our faith, and maintain excitement about what this means.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the evidence of joyful hope. Many of us say that we have it, but our joy is MIA. We’ve got to find it, because it’s essential to avoiding a mental and emotional crash, not just after the holidays, but in life general. In the Old Testament, David was really going through it, having a tough time, and 1Samuel 30:6 tells us that he encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord. We can do no less. The battle is most assuredly in our minds, and sometimes it is because we have a sense that more is available and that our happiness can be increased, but we’re not sure what to do to transition from where we are. Well God is the one who does the heavy lifting. We must remind ourselves of this constantly.
God is counting on us to walk in faith all year long, and we can’t do this if we allow our joy and hope to head south after the holidays. The season is meant to reinvigorate and inspire us to press and reach higher towards our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Losing steam in this pursuit is not an option. Don’t let your excitement about newness fall to the ground. Elevate it continually with hope by energizing your mind and heart with gratitude. Pray in faith by actively having confidence in the Lord’s power to flow mightily in and through you. Stay happy!■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Avoid the Post-Holiday Crash” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.