{"id":13647,"date":"2017-12-12T04:53:01","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T11:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2c63e93e-9abe-11e8-99ad-ca52c1e5b2af"},"modified":"2018-08-27T14:18:41","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T20:18:41","slug":"hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope for Charlie Brown’s Holiday Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Christmas, I attended a live music viewing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The 25-minute film played on a screen at our local indie theater downtown while a jazz band performed Vince Guaraldi\u2019s music in sync. It was spectacular!<\/p>\n

As the movie begins, Charlie Brown feels ho-hum and is in search of Christmas cheer. Nothing is quite right. He didn\u2019t receive a Christmas card from his friend Violet, he is frustrated by his sister Sally\u2019s self-centered wish list for Santa, his dog Snoopy is caught up in a decorating contest, and to top it off, Charlie\u2019s friends laugh at the small and bare tree he picks out for the Christmas play. \u201cI guess I really don\u2019t know what Christmas is all about,\u201d sighs Charlie with dismay.<\/p>\n

Thumb-sucking, blanket-carrying Linus offers the answer to Charlie\u2019s woes, reading the angel\u2019s proclamation of Christ\u2019s birth to the shepherds from Luke 2:8-14 with confidence and clarity. The true Christmas story begins to soften and soothe Charlie\u2019s heart in the midst of his sadness. By the end of the film, he joins his group of friends in song.<\/p>\n

Like Charlie Brown, I entered the theater last December with the holiday blues. 2016 had been an incredibly difficult year of illness, trauma and grief. I kept up with work, my small group and my family throughout the year, but other areas of my life had been placed on hold to heal, physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

Some of you may be in the midst of challenging circumstances \u2014 mourning a break-up, feeling stuck at work, or battling loneliness. Perhaps you\u2019re dealing with a strained family situation this Christmas. Or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff\u201d like I did. My encouragement to you this holiday season is to bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Bible verse that brought hope to my heart last Christmas was 1 Peter 5:10:\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,\u00a0who has called you to his\u00a0eternal glory in Christ, will himself\u00a0restore,\u00a0confirm, strengthen, and establish you.\u201d<\/p>\n

God will restore you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word \u201crestore<\/a>\u201d is so rich. It means \u201cto bring back to a former, original or normal condition”\u00a0or \u201cto make return or restitution of anything taken away or lost.\u201d No matter how much you have missed the mark in your own thoughts or actions, God can restore you. No matter how much has been taken from you by the actions of others or by loss, God can restore you. Ask diligently for restoration, renewal and healing in troubled times, and stay faithful to the way of Jesus in the waiting.<\/p>\n

God will confirm you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Upon salvation, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. He confirms our belonging as sons and daughters, reminding us that we are forever accepted. In sadness or suffering, the Holy Spirit comforts us, counsels us and helps us discern the truth from the lies of the enemy so that we can claim victory. When tempted to despair or feel general disappointment<\/a> or discouragement, the Holy Spirit confirms our identity and will intercede for us when we don’t know how we ought to pray.<\/p>\n

God will strengthen you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we are weak and weary, we have access to God\u2019s supernatural strength. Our mighty God is for us, not against us. He is a very present help in trouble. His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. Utilizing Scripture, we can gird ourselves for battles, resist temptations and tear down strongholds\u2026or lighten any\u00a0end-of-the-year, holiday blues. The Lord is our strength and our song.<\/p>\n

God will establish you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever seen a sign hanging in a family\u2019s home, announcing the year the couple was married as the year their home was “established?” In Christ, the bond is even more certain and will last beyond our lives on earth. Our relationship with God cannot fail or be taken away from us. We can stand in faith upon Christ, our solid rock, with confidence.<\/p>\n

The Christmas story, as read in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” reminds us that God sent His Son to us. We have no reason to fear in the midst of the daily grind, troubles, sadness or suffering. Because of Christ\u2019s birth, perfect life, finished work upon the cross and resurrection, we are assured that God fulfills His Word to His people. He will himself<\/em>\u00a0restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. It\u2019s a promise.<\/p>\n

Warren Wiersbe summarized 1 Peter 5:10 by saying, \u201cWe need to look up to the God of all grace, look back and remember that He called us, look ahead and recognize the coming glory, and look within to see how God is equipping us through our difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n

We, much more than the fictional characters of Linus and Charlie Brown, have a reason to be filled with hope this Christmas season.<\/p>\n

Which Bible verse has comforted you in a season of sadness or suffering? What brings you hope this Christmas?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may be in challenging circumstances \u2014 or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff.\u201d This holiday season, bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":21216,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13647","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nHope for Charlie Brown's Holiday Blues - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You may be in challenging circumstances \u2014 or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff.\u201d This holiday season, bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hope for Charlie Brown's Holiday Blues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You may be in challenging circumstances \u2014 or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff.\u201d This holiday season, bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boundless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-27T20:18:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/CB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1209\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"903\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Hope for Charlie Brown's Holiday Blues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"You may be in challenging circumstances \u2014 or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff.\u201d This holiday season, bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/\",\"name\":\"Hope for Charlie Brown's Holiday Blues - Boundless\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/CB.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-12T11:53:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-08-27T20:18:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"You may be in challenging circumstances \u2014 or maybe you\u2019re just feeling \u201coff.\u201d This holiday season, bring your suffering to \u201cthe God of all grace.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/CB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/CB.jpg\",\"width\":1209,\"height\":903},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/hope-for-charlie-browns-holiday-blues\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Posts\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hope for Charlie Brown’s Holiday Blues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/\",\"name\":\"Boundless\",\"description\":\"Find your place. 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