Ah, Christmas!

Ah, Christmas!  The sights overwhelm.  The sounds inspire.  The food delights.  The parties ignite.  The hustle and bustle stir and blurs.  The build-up, the anticipation, the wonder, the joy, the awe - all of it just screams a magical time of the year that is like no other.

Yet, many in our midst, are not experiencing the  Hallmark movie plots that tell their predictable tales.  This week our family was forced to face this fact as we laid a sister, one day younger than myself, to rest.  She died by her own hand.  No amount of holiday cheer can explain the pain each member of her family and circle of friends are facing and living right now.  The sights, sounds, food, parties, hustle, bustle, build-up, anticipation, wonder, joy and awe all seem so secondary.

I have lived long enough and learned lessons that have changed the chemistry of my heart to know this one thing about this God that I choose to follow.  The end and unshakable truth - He is good.  Good?  Yes, good.  Good is the condition of His heart toward His children - all of them.  Good is what He desires and pursues on my behalf.  Good in the face of shocking news.  Good in the sparkle of Christmas.  Good in the routine of life.  Good.  Always good.

The very heart of God is expressed through the lens of a loving Father.  A Father comforts us when phone calls bring bad news and interrupt our life.  A Father grieves with us when we sit in funeral services when shopping for last minute Christmas gifts should be the order of the day.  A Father whispers His love toward us when gripped in depression too severe to be able to think clearly.  A Father loves us when we don't understand.  A Father works all the ugly into beautiful on our behalf.  A Father makes sense of the unthinkable.  A Father supports when legs feel too weak to walk through life.  A Father just loves ... all the time.

At Christmas, we need to be reminded that God is a good Father.  The trouble is, often the default thinking of the term "father" causes us to compare an earthly father to the Father of Jesus, God, Creator of all things, King of Kings, Omnipotent and Omnipresent Father.  Comparisons are natural.  Comparisons, however, fault on the side of too little input from our human brains to adequately draw an accurate portrayal of who God really is as Father.  Hurt from the past, horrible role models, physically or emotionally absent fathers, our own experience, and the misunderstood truth of a biblical worldview distort the all-encompassing heart of a Father, God, whose love for us is too wide, too tall, too long, too much for human brains to put into tidy boxes of rational thinking.

What's a human to do?  Believe, by faith, that God is a good Father.  God, the One who formed us in Mother's wombs and chose the man that would biologically contribute to our oxygen breathing selves on the planet is ... good.  There are theological books, seminary courses, counseling seminars, self-help workshops and plenty of online resources to expand on the Father-God concept.  But .. this blog is mine.  I know, from many years hearing the kind voice of my Father, that He is good.  In loss too unbearable to carry, He was good.  In heartache that caused physical reactions of nights with too many tears, He was good.  In physical pain, He was good.  In job loss, He was good.  In a miscarriage, He was good.  In the final goodbyes to my Mom, He was good.  In too little money to provide Christmas, He was good.  In thousands of miles separating me from my extended family, He was good.  In the stress of relationships, He was good.  In lies being told about my character, He was good.  In my Anxiety and Panic attacks, He was good.  In high fevers from little baby girls in the middle of the nights, He was good.  In the viewing of those I love suffer, He was good.  Just as an apple can be nothing but an apple, the character of God can be nothing but GOOD.

This Christmas, my prayer is that those who have been so cleverly misguided, lied to, deceived by the worlds attempt to color a picture that is not accurate of God, the Father, to experience an overwhelming breakthrough of truth that the Father is good.  May coffee cups across from one another be joined by conversations that dispell ugly notions and bring freedom into hearts this Christmas.  God is good.  That's what Christmas is all about!

 This Christmas, may the sights, sounds, food, parties, hustle, bustle, build-up, anticipation, wonder, joy and awe all seem secondary - wonderful - yet secondary to the undeniable truth that God is good!