It was Christmas Eve, 1999. It was a tumultuous time for the Pratts. I was admitted into the hospital where I would later have one of the greatest joys of my life, our first child, a daughter, Hannah. However, that joyful occasion was suddenly covered by deep sadness. It was a Friday. I was supposed to have been there on Thursday, but our joy, would be delayed due to the sudden and unexpected death of Thom’s sister, Tracy. She had a blood clot dislodge in her heart on Wednesday, and Thom had to make the difficult decision in the wee hours of Thursday morning to turn off the life support and watch his sister go to Heaven. That difficult day was just nine months after the passing of his father.
The reality of death and grief came over us like a shroud, yet life and joy were on the way. What a paradox of emotions! Somehow, with God’s help, we held it all in our hearts. We were going to experience the intensity of grief and the anticipation of joy all at the same time.
Even though I had been up late, and Thom had been up all night, we checked into the hospital for an induction on Thursday morning as had been planned. The doctor took one look at us and said, “Go home and rest up. You can’t have a baby in this condition.” Sorrow was a blanket. Joy was delayed. Ever been there? When all you can feel is sorrow, but you know a better day has to be ahead? At least that is the hope.
We rested. We cried. We rested. We cried. We checked into the hospital again on Christmas Eve morning. Talk about chaos. Every nurse was working a short shift. We couldn’t blame them. Everyone wanted time with their families for Christmas, but it was chaos. Every time a nurse clocked out and a new one clocked in, every four hours, the induction plan changed. There was no continuity in my care. Each nurse had a better idea than the last one. The constant change in plans kept me on edge and kept Thom asking lots of questions.
It was chaos on steroids. In addition to all the hospital chaos, Thom was trying to plan a funeral for his sister at the same time. While I was being induced, he was being pulled in multiple directions. He needed to be there for me. He wanted to be there for himself, to fully embrace the joys of becoming a father for the first time, but he also needed to be there for his mother who had lost her husband and her daughter all within nine months of each other. It was all too much, really. Ever been there? When it is all too much? When your heart is being pulled apart by such intense and opposing emotions, and you wonder what else could happen and you hope you don’t have to find out?
Finally, after 24 hours of labor, the doctor prescribed a C-section to which I gladly said, “Sign me up,” and our ten-pound baby girl was born. Joy didn’t replace the sorrow, but both emotions occupied our hearts. We held in our arms what we had waited for with great anticipation. It was one of the greatest moments of our lives, and yet unshakeable sorrow had been inserted into our story. The setting for our baby’s birth was chaos and sorrow.
Even though our hearts were broken, and at the same time, our hearts were also blessed by the birth of our daughter, and even though we were emotionally overloaded, we were never without peace. Real peace. Abiding peace. Supernatural peace. That is the difference that having Christ in the chaos makes. One of the names of Jesus is “Prince of Peace.” Peace isn’t the result of never having to endure pain. It isn’t even the result of being abundantly blessed. Peace is the result of a relationship with God who gets you through every high and every low, even when they happen at the same time.
Philippians 4:7 is a promise for those who know Jesus. Here it is: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The only way we made it through those emotionally charged days was through the peace we had both found in Christ.
When I think about that Christmas and reflect on the ways God was with us, I think of the Christmas carol whose refrain is simply this: “Tidings of comfort and joy, comfort AND joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.” The truth is, the human experience is riddled with chaos, the kind that causes emotional overload and stress. It was into this reality that God intervened. He saw we couldn’t handle life on our own. He saw we couldn’t handle our brokenness which is the result of the sin we are each born with. He saw we needed peace in the middle of the chaos that is life. And so, Jesus, the Son of God, wrapped Himself in human flesh, was miraculously placed in a virgin’s womb, and entered into our chaos not as an observer, but as a participant.
Some of our Christmas carols romanticize the birth of Christ. Conditions surrounding Jesus’ birth weren’t exactly calm. Mary was an unwed teenager, but she had already become legally bound to Joseph. How would she explain an immaculate conception to him or to anyone? How would they convince anyone that a virgin was carrying the Son of God? Mary was a true heroin in the Christmas story, and yet her world was thrust into chaos.
Joseph and Mary were required to journey to Bethlehem because it was time for a census and Joseph had to head home to be counted. It was a 90-mile, four-day trip. Mary was 9 months pregnant. Travel wasn’t exactly convenient. It wasn’t a good time to travel, but we typically don’t get to choose our chaos, do we? And, of course, chaos is never convenient.
Upon arrival in Bethlehem, Mary found herself in active labor, but there was no place to stay. The city was teeming with people who had also come to register for the census. A stable, surrounded by animals, and alone, Joseph and Mary would navigate the delivery of their baby. The only way to describe that scene is to use the word, “chaos.” Give me a nurse on a short shift any day, right?
Jesus was born with a target on His back as the area King was threatened by news of the birth of a King, as Jesus’ birth was being touted. He was so threatened that he ordered the execution of all Hebrew males under the age of 2. An angel spoke into that chaotic terror and told Mary and Joseph they had to leave the area and travel to Egypt to keep the child safe which furthered their chaos.
There was nothing routine, nothing predictable, nothing really even safe about the conditions surrounding Jesus’ arrival, but the noise, the challenges, the difficult conditions furthered the reality that God wouldn’t be deterred by the chaos of the human experience.
He isn’t deterred by your chaos. Your sin problem. Your addiction problem. Your marital stress. Your family dysfunction. Your health challenges. Your financial challenges. Your lack of belief in Him, none of it is too much for Him. When your life is defined by chaos and you wonder where God might be, I’ll tell you where He is. He is right in the middle of it, waiting for you to call out to Him for help. He isn’t off running the universe. He is leaning in, drawing close, and inviting you to let Him infuse His peace into your story.
Most of us wouldn’t say our lives have turned out as we had hoped or planned, but the good news is, the chaos hasn’t kept God from wanting to be close, from wanting to give us hope, from wanting to rescue us, from wanting to help us make something beautiful out of our mess. Perhaps this Christmas, you are thinking, “I’ve got a lot going on, and most of it isn’t something I would wish on anyone.” God’s got you.
I think the writer of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” nailed it as he described Christ in the chaos. Listen to the desperate cries and eternal hope in these lyrics.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Do you see the suffering and sorrow expressed in this verse? What has you captured right now? What is weighing heavy on you? What are you longing for? From what do you need freed? What are you mourning?
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Satan is real. His plan is to steal from us, to kill us in our spirits, and to destroy our lives. Hell is real. Unless we have made peace with God through the Savior, Jesus, there is no victory over the grave. This is a desperate plea the songwriter is making, and yet, there is a reason to rejoice because while Satan wants to steal from us, Christ has come to give us abundant life.
O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
So many people deal with discouragement, depression and despair. The darkness of the chaos leaves us longing for joy and light. They come through a relationship with Emmanuel, God with us.
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
It can be difficult to feel safe in moments of chaos, to know what steps to take when you are overwhelmed, to know how to navigate the chaos that is part of all of our lives, but if we follow Emmanuel, He promises protection now and perfection one day in Heaven.
The truth is, there is more to life than this life. There is a life beyond overload, a life beyond the chaos, a life beyond the sorrow, a life that is rejoicing, peace, and rest. That life is found in eternity in Heaven, and it has been brokered for us in Christ. He has secured it for us with His blood as He offered Himself as the payment for the sins of humanity and has offered His righteousness to every person who would receive Him. Receiving His righteousness enables us to have a relationship with God that can never be broken which subsequently yields a peace that anchors our souls no matter what our chaos looks like.
It’s also a life that can be yours now. You don’t have to wait to rejoice. You don’t have to wait to experience peace and rest. You can rejoice even in the chaos. You can have peace and rest even as you deal with sorrow and sadness. They will be yours as you invite Christ into your chaos this Christmas.
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