Tis the Season When Life Can Feel Overwhelming

Tis the season.

Tis the season when life can feel overwhelming.

There is the empty chair at the Thanksgiving table; the one where once there was laughter and old stories and…love.

There is one less gift under the Christmas tree. Where once you complained about what to buy, now you sit and wish you had to make that same complaint this year.

Already the music has started: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” comes through the speakers, but in your heart much of the “wonderful” has gone out of this time of year, and you’re left with heartache, grief, and that relentless feeling of loneliness that even the best of friends can’t take away.

This year the delightful smells of the kitchen at Thanksgiving don’t have the same aroma and warmth they once held. The laughter that has filled the house is more subdued this year. Despite the delightful sounds of children laughing and friends and family talking, there is an unexplainable loneliness that permeates the house where the empty chair sits and stares as if waiting for someone.

Everything changes. In your head you know that’s how life is, full of change, and the older we grow the more difficult it is to change, and the more change is forced upon us. But the empty chair and the missing gift and so much more can feel like more change than one can endure.

This time of year, so filled with joy for some, is filled with depression for others.

It’s Thanksgiving, but you’re not feeling particularly thankful.

It’s Christmas, a time of joy and celebration, but you’re not feeling joyful and you’d rather spend your days and nights in sadness; for sadness is what you feel in the depths of your soul.

This year, the turkey and the pumpkin pie just won’t taste the same.

This year, the lights on the tree may as well stay dark; for it is darkness that fills your soul.

You hide it. You cover it up for the sake of your family. You cover it up rather than have to listen to your friends telling you you’ve got to move on. You hold back the tears until you’re alone. You dare not tell anyone how you really feel—how you’d like to scream and cry and just go to bed in hopes you’ll awaken and it will all be a dream.

“And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?”

My hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:7)

But waiting is so hard when you’re waiting with heartache, pain, and loneliness. How long do you have to wait for it all to go away? How long before you can feel truly thankful again and how long before the “wonderful” will come back to “The most wonderful time of the year?” How long? How much longer must this pretending go on?

“I waited patiently for the Lord,

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the desolate pit,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.” (Psalm 40: 1-2)

Those who tell you it is easy to make the changes life forces upon us are misleading you. Many of them mean well. They’re trying to help. “Have faith,” they say. “Trust in the Lord,” they tell you. “Don’t you believe the Lord can give you joy?” they ask.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own insight.” (Proverbs 3:5)

It sounds good, and it sounds like what one ought to believe, but it can be really hard to “trust the Lord,” and give up on your own thinking as you try to figure out how to negotiate the changes in your life.

Life lesson: some things we never get over; we learn to live with them.

So we wait, we wait for the Lord to “draw me up from the desolate pit.” He will. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” We often overlook the “will be.” Grief is not an event; it is a process. Moving on with life is not an event; it is a process, a process that is made a little easier with faith in the Lord.

One step at a time. One day at a time. One prayer at a time.

“He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:3)

This year, you might need a “new song” in your mouth; the same words to the old tune, but a “new song.” This year the joy might be different, but the joy is still there; for joy is found in our faith, a faith in One who will never leave us nor forsake us even when it can feel like he has.

“But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’

As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought of me.

You are my help and my deliverance;

do not delay, O my God.” (Psalm 40:16-17)

Today, we give Jesus the final word:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

One step at a time. One day at a time. One prayer at a time.

Join us Sunday morning at 11:00 at Greenfield, 384 Fairmont Road, Gretna, or on Facebook Live on the Greenfield Baptist page.