No More Let Sins and Sorrows Grow

1. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
   Nor thorns infest the ground;
   He comes to make His blessings flow
   Far as the curse is found,
   Far as the curse is found,
   Far as, far as, the curse is found.
2. Sometimes, sorrows are great and refuse to stop growing. Sometimes, the circumstances in our lives seem like anything but blessings. The curse is real, and sometimes it rears its ugly head, whether we're trying to celebrate or not. This is one of those Christmases. 
3. Today, a dear friend of mine had to remove her adult son—struck by a car last night, on Christmas Eve—from life support. He will not survive the day, at least not in this world. A mother, and a wife, and two sons, and many other friends and family members are grieving today for this one they love. Never mind that it's Christmas. 
4. A neighbor of mine buried her husband last weekend on what would have been their 47th wedding anniversary. He had fallen from the roof while hanging Christmas lights, landing in such a way on the driveway below that he sustained a fatal head injury. He never regained consciousness enough to communicate his love and goodbyes. Never mind that it's Christmas. 
5. My pastor and his wife are navigating through the tricky waters of celebrating the family's first Christmas without their son and brother, Mark, who was tragically murdered last May in a random shooting as he drove home from attending his high school's graduation ceremony. Her thoughts about what that's like are poignant and real and vulnerable and honest and encouraging and fiercely beautiful, in an awful sort of way. Never mind that it's Christmas. 
6. This year was a year of tears for me. I attended far too many funerals... some for dear ones who should have had a lifetime ahead of them... some for those who lived long lives, rich and full, but who are still so sorely missed. 
7. Never mind that it's Christmas. 
8. As I've moved through this holiday season—grieving, and praying for many other dear ones who are also grieving—it's been a daily exercise to seek joy. It's been work to move past my own confusion and pain and to find the Lord in all of it. Do I really believe that He's good, all the time? Do I really believe that He's sovereign? Do I really trust Him, in the middle of all this pain?

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." 
 - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18a| NIV84

1. I've had to choose to find encouragement in those words. I've had to dwell on the reality that, though we grieve, we do not grieve as those without hope. My dear friends who have "fallen asleep in Him" truly "will be with the Lord forever"! They are with Him even now, as I type these words. As I struggle and strive, amidst grief, to celebrate the fact that God came to Earth as a baby to save the world—and yea, even me—from our sins, they are basking in His glorious presence, face to face. 
2.  
3. I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I certainly don't know what to say to a friend who is saying goodbye to a son on Christmas Day, but I do know this... must hang onto this...
4. 
   
5. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
   Let earth receive her King;
   Let every heart prepare Him room,
   And heav’n and nature sing,
   And heav’n and nature sing,
   And heav’n, and heav’n, and nature sing.
6. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
   Let men their songs employ;
   While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
   Repeat the sounding joy,
   Repeat the sounding joy,
   Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
7. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
   Nor thorns infest the ground;
   He comes to make His blessings flow
   Far as the curse is found,
   Far as the curse is found,
   Far as, far as, the curse is found.
8. He rules the world with truth and grace,
   And makes the nations prove
   The glories of His righteousness,
   And wonders of His love,
   And wonders of His love,
   And wonders, wonders, of His love.
9. -------
   *Entry 1, The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge
   The title is a line from the famous hymn "Joy to the World" by Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason.