Pain pops up at Christmas.
Maybe it’s because the holidays often revolve around regrets.
- Family
- Health
- Money
Christmas is a nice distraction from some of these when the kids or grandkids are young.
But as you, your parents, and the kids age, Christmas shines a spotlight on pain.
Three hints from the first Christmas convert pain into bright steps toward the future.
Before I share these, let me say how much I appreciate the least appreciated character in the Christmas story.
Joseph is easily overlooked in favor of the other players.
Yet, he’s stuck with the decisions that determine survival or catastrophe.
He faces the oddest and scariest scenarios, all of which unload pain on him and his family.
While his fiance is pregnant, a big no-no in first-century Jewish culture, the Roman government forces a cross-country move, and he’s in charge of navigating the chaos.
He packs the family to . . .
- travel 90 miles over four days
- birth a baby in a barn
- flee to Egypt from a terrorist
- move back to Israel years later
- face another terror threat
- move to Galilee
Joseph makes adjustments on the fly and plays roles similar to ours today.
- Problem solver
- Family leader
- Provider
Problem solver: Lead through pain
A great lesson from Joseph at the first Christmas is to face the pain that gets you somewhere.
After all, life has no pain-free options.
So, don’t panic over symptom pain, merely a short-term discomfort alerting you to a problem. Instead, embrace success pain, the pain of following through on a wise decision.
In Joseph’s case, he moves his young family to comply with a new law. After that, he faces a death threat from King Herod. Instead of freaking out over circumstances, symptom pain, he responds with a wise move that leads to Egypt, success pain.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2: 13-15
Always move in the direction clearly supporting the best outcome, even if it’s painful.
Family leader: Provide in every circumstance
Perhaps the best lesson from Joseph is his small business management through turmoil and pain.
After he escaped to Egypt, he settled his family in a foreign land and successfully navigated the detour.
Undoubtedly, he went right to work, which made his carpentry business prosper.
Kudos to Joseph for caring for the family throughout their sojourn in Egypt.
Clearly, Joseph trained Jesus in the family business early on.
“Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” Matthew 13: 54-55
The lesson? Provide for your family in every circumstance because you’re setting the stage for their future success.
Supernatural provider
Finally, whatever your pain, seek a power source beyond natural solutions.
Is this reasonable?
Consider how God inverted our perception of reason on the first Christmas.
He appears as a baby.
Wouldn’t it be better if God came like a . . .
- poet such as Virgil?
- ruler such as Augustus?
- philosopher such as Socrates?
- scientist such as Isaac Newton?
Instead, God arrives as a baby. Why?
To move our eyes down.
Down from the haughty position of self-sufficiency and worldly power.
Down to see a boy and a carpenter long before his claim to be the Son of God.
Why a carpenter?
Because our lives are broken like furniture.
Broken from . . .
- past decisions
- past relationships
Many things put wear and tear on us, so we need to be fixed from the inside to the outside.
When James Tissot, one of the most prosperous society painters in Paris in the late 1800s, was in despair, he went to Mass to sketch a woman worshipping.
He did not ever expect what would happen next, for he was not a religious man.
When the priest raised the host aloft, Tissot envisioned Jesus feeding and ministering to the poor in the inner city. At that moment, he was converted to Christianity. The result? Over 300 of his watercolors of the most memorable events in the Bible have been displayed in museums worldwide, leaving millions speechless and on their knees crying.
That’s how Jesus makes even the wealthiest acclaimed folks in this world new persons.
How are you navigating pain this Christmas?
This is excellent Steve as usual – My takeaway was: “The lesson? Provide for your family in every circumstance because you’re setting the stage for their future success.” Thanks Steve and Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas Jeff!