An old Christmas story, originally by Dr. Seuss, that has gained significant popularity over the past few years is none other than “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”!
For anyone not familiar with the story, a reclusive Grinch is pushed to the point of insanity by the cheeriness of the citizens of Whoville. He takes his dog, Max, and comes down from his mountaintop home to steal everything holiday-related….
As I contemplated what to write this Christmas season, I found myself going through major, faith-shaking trials that have chipped away at my hope until there was none left.
As many of you already know, my husband suffers from Lewey Body dementia. He has declined rather rapidly over the past seven years; but this year his cognition decided to take the “black diamond sky slope.” God had promised his healing, but with nothing but declining cognition following the promise, it was hard to maintain my faith. The fact that he was the recipient of a promise that didn’t seem to be being fulfilled actually seemed to make things worse. I mean, I can deal with the declining cognition; but to stand by and watch while it appears that God is not keeping His promise … Well it is just plain … hard.
We started up a prayer and fast group on his behalf, and although there were small gains noted, nothing significant was appearing. It seemed so cruel! Nonetheless, with the prayer support of many across the world, I maintained my hope.
Our kids all came for Christmas two weeks early that year. Our plan was to celebrate an early Christmas together, as our older son and daughter-in-law were leaving for China on December 25, and our younger son had to be back in Western Canada at the church he pastors for the actual Christmas. When our pastor son arrived, he immediately discerned the spirit of confusion and fear in the house and he renounced these. I wasn’t surprised. Leading up to the visit we had been dealing with increasing problems with dressing that was causing me a lot of anxiety. He then felt God telling him that we were about to have a spiritual shift; that we needed to anoint the house with oil, which we did, and we needed to lay hands on my husband and pray over him.
My ears heard something different. I heard that with our prayer over him, my husband would be … healed! I had hope.
The chosen day came and we prayed over him; but there wasn’t a major shift in the physical realm. My shaky hope shattered into nothingness. I found myself going into Christmas … without hope! What was the point of celebrating Jesus’ birth when all hope is gone?
But wait! The Christ Child came to give us hope! The apostle Paul even called Jesus our hope: “…and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,” (1 Timothy 1:1 NASB). Mary recognized Jesus as hope even before He was born. With the shame that she knew she would endure, why else would she have taken the news so calmly? “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38 NASB). Why else would she have said to Elizabeth, “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior…” (Luke 1:46-47 NASB)? The thought of a Saviour brought so much hope that she was at peace with the shame she would bear!
Taking this a step farther, the book of Hebrews tells us that we have hope in Jesus that serves as an anchor for our souls: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil…” (Hebrews 6:19 NASB)! The fact that I felt so hopeless was due to one thing, and one alone: I had let the “grinch” – read lack of faith — steal my Christmas hope!
But our hope isn’t in circumstances. It isn’t in earthly things at all. Hey, we can’t even let what our eyes tells us become the basis for our hope! As the old hymn so aptly puts it, “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness…” (Our Hope is Built by Joseph Edet). When we put our hope in anything else, our lack of faith in Jesus and Him alone will steal our hope!
As I look now upon the figurine of the Christ Child in the manger, I realize something so vitally important: When my hope is in Him and Him alone, it is “grinch-proof”! It can’t be stolen by lack of faith! Sure, I haven’t yet seen the manifestation of my husband’s healing in the physical realm, but my hope is still in God’s promise of healing. By putting my hope in the Christ Child alone, I am agreeing to walk by faith and not by sight (See 2 Cor. 5:7)!
And in doing so, I know I am also pleasing Jesus, for “… without faith it is impossible to please Him…” (Hebrews 11:6a NASB).
What about you? Has unbelief stolen your Christmas hope? I encourage you to spend some time meditating on the fact that Jesus is our hope, the anchor for our soul. He will never let you down!
In the end, the Grinch realized that Christmas is more than presents and feasts. He returned to Whoville, he brought back the toys and the decorations and joined the Whos for Christmas dinner. It is said that the Grinch’s heart tripled in size that day. I know how he felt. Once my hope was repositioned on “Who” it should have been on in the first place, my heart seemed to triple in size as well as hope once again flooded my soul.
But is hope the only thing the “grinch” stole that year? Join us next Saturday for the second part of the series: “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas…”
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
(To access the entire “The ‘Grinch’ Who Steals Christmas …” mini-series, please click here!)
