Counteracting Holiday Fatigue and Irritability

For many, the time of the year from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s Eve is filled with overdoing it. We throw parties and go to them. There are meals to plan, prepare, and clean up after. Gifts need bought, wrapped, and given.

George Bailey can feel a kindred spirit. Frustrated at things not going perfectly, he concludes he’s to blame, and supposes at his lowest point that everyone would be better off if he had never been born.

“Tut, tut, my good man,” as Clarence the guardian angel would say. “You mustn’t say such things.”

What is at the heart of this holiday fatigue and irritability is a preoccupation with what we bring to the table. Only Christmas isn’t about that.

Christmas is about what God already brought to the table because we were unable to be perfect and make it on our own.

If we were able to execute perfectly and make everything alright – even for a season – what need would there have been for the incarnation of Christ? After all, baby Jesus in a manger was the lead-up to the Savior going to the cross to atone for our sins.

So as it turns out we can’t be perfect even for a relatively short season, there is great comfort and peace in remembering the good news of Emmanuel.

God knew our weaknesses and imperfections, and He still knows them. Yet He bids us trust in His provision and righteousness in Jesus coming on our behalf.

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

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