Her life pain was increased by the pandemic—now Christmas is around the corner. Countless people are suffering similarly. Having presents under the trees may not be the most concerning factor for many this year. We can thank God for food banks as they do their best to assure families are fed. It is an awesome time! So where is Jesus? And, what is He doing about this?

Following Jesus’ death and resurrection, the apostle Paul assured us Jesus is “at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us,” (Romans 8: 34). Intercessory prayer for one another is a great thing, but imagine the Lord Jesus Christ pulling for us as we tackle our problems and struggles in life—even those that are self-inflicted by our poor decisions that we make without having prayed for guidance.

He alone holds power to lead us to green pastures and still waters. He alone can turn all that happens to good. Even our hardest of happenstances are teachers. We gain patience, as we hang in there and master them! And, it is patience that makes us “complete, lacking nothing,” (James 1:2).

Our trials find us trusting God more and more fully. We become the hurdlers, leaping above the obstacles facing us. Our growing faith motors us, while also comforting us during the hardest moments. Kneeling, praying and asking for discernment is how we get through it when we hurt so much we can hardly bear it . . . and settles us when we seek to comprehend.

Methods many use to escape the difficulties of life, like drinking to gain escape is by far not the same. This is true, too, of using pills to surmount the throes of life. These cannot take a person high enough to satisfy the cravings developed. Consequently, many are dying through overdoses while trying to reach an ultimate “high” once again.

Billions of people over the past 2,000 years have found through Scripture that Jesus is the only steadfast answer. And, as the Apostle John assures us, Jesus did not just come at Christmas. No. At the earth’s beginning, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him, (John 1:10).”

John knew Christ as “the Word.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it,” (John 1:1-5).

We celebrate December 25, with many lights—in remembrance of when Jesus came to us visually to live among us as a human being in a body of flesh like our own. Why? To be with us and teach about the Father’s love for us and about a kingdom that is ours while here, one of ”righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,” (Romans 14:17).

Right here in the midst of earthly realms, there is this great and mighty kingdom of goodness (“Godness”). Jesus prayed to His Father for us, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world,” (John 17:14-16).

Father God allowed him to come here, to die for us and pave the way for our having eternal life once we leave this earth. God knows we are sinful—and He cannot look at sin. When He sent His son to be with us God was extending His nature to us . . . making it possible for us to take on His very own nature.

Our nature is naturally a “fallen nature.” All humans are prone to follow it. God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son to be a surrogate for us. Jesus’ purpose was many faceted, yet majorly to die for us. He carried our sins as the Roman soldiers crucified Him. From there on, we have only to trust, knowing our sins are covered by the Savior’s blood. His blood is our covering. ”There is therefore now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit,” (Romans 8:1).

As Christmas approaches, the greatest thing a person can do in life is to recognize the truth of who Jesus is, and to know He has paved a way for us to be sin-free as we believe in His name and put our trust in Him. This is “the way” we come to relying on the help of His Holy Spirit day-by-day. In this way, Jesus is with us now, and has said, “. . . lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

So, how do we have a “Merry Christmas” in the midst of the troubles we face? The answer is simple, come to know who Jesus is—besides the one we remember at “Christ-mas.” Reading the Gospels (the “Good News”) allows us to see that Jesus is here—able to live in our hearts, doing through us what can relieve the pain of others. How? As the Lord’s Holy Spirit nourishes us, our spirits are uplifted, fortified and enable. Who can find a greater “merriment” than this?

I like the caricature because this artist, a stranger to me, put in words what seems so true. I was “born to be good.” Weren’t we all? But, please note that’s a trike I’m on—with trainer wheels.

Brandon Bowers, Publisher of Today’s News-Herald, asked me to introduce this column by telling why I serve the community in the ways I feel to do. A difference for me aligns with the fact I was introduced to what the artist drew as “the good book” when I was just eight years old. It was then that I found “a greater love.” Although I have only been a chaplain for 23 years, a friend who has known me for a very long time said recently, “Joy you have had a chaplain’s heart throughout your whole life.” So, where does one’s heart of compassion come?

While at work recently, I heard myself speaking of love. After all, when we are sick, in a strange bed—and out of control, a bit of love can help a whole lot. In a few minutes at that bedside I was able to succinctly put into words my “love philosophy.” We come into this world with a great capacity to love. Love is the most healing entity in the universe. And, the more we love, the more we become like our Creator who is love (1 John 4:8). Forgive me, please, for shortening the verse! There is a point to make: The first part of that quotation includes a preposition—“because.” Put it all together and you have, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” It’s something to ponder. (Forget the double negative—this is from “the good book,” after all!)

I recently asked an ICU patient to tell me what love has meant to him within life. He thought for a minute then remembered a stitchery his wife had made for him years ago that reads, “To love and be loved is the greatest joy on earth.” Upon researching this quote, for an author to credit, I found this writing came from an ancient fable, yet was notably employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln before he became the sixteenth President of the United States.

As for what I shared above, I also want to say that the opposite of love is fear. For a human the fears of not being lovable . . . not being good enough . . . or, not doing enough” are some of the worse of all fears. Fear carries a load of torment. So, what makes us “born to be good” is the fact we are created with a conscience . . . which so often prods us to “do the right thing.” And, why is conscience needed? I believe that is simply because we are here on terra firma to learn. We make mistakes—and it just happens those mistakes usually become our best teachers, helping us to “wise up.” I have certainly made my share of mistakes . . . have had to turn around and go the opposite direction, at points, which is the definition of “repentance.”

I have read “the good book” from beginning to end many times and see a clear and perpetual message, “’’Man’ sins, God redeems . . . ‘Man’ sins, God redeems.” Eventually (hopefully) we get the point—that we “are “enough.” We are loved—and that love of God, self and others is what it’s all about. Off come the trainer wheels—making the trip more worthwhile. The Maker intends for us to love the ride.