A Christmas Carol: Celebration in the Midst of Adversity
Consider: Romans 8:28
“There is joy in every heart that celebrates the gift of God; it matters not their circumstances.”
What’s on your Christmas wish list? A new bike, a big screen TV, a new game console, an ipod,
your two front teeth… ?
With the down turn in our economy there are lots of people who are gettin’ nothing for
Christmas this year. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t have a Merry Christmas, it just means
that they won’t be exchanging gifts. When I think of a poor family making the best of it, I think
of Ebenezer Scrooge’s employee, Bob Cratchit. He scrimped and saved, and then his whole
family made Merry over a very meager meal.
Mrs. Cratchit asked her husband, when he returned from Christmas services, ―And how did
little Tim behave?‖ ―As good as gold, but he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much as he
does; and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He hoped the people saw him in the church,
because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day,
who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.‖
That’s a line from Dicken’s ―A Christmas Carol, that I don’t think I’ve ever heard in any of
the movie versions. Most people rarely consider that their unfortunate situations can be used for
something good.
Paul did not tell the Romans that all things are good; that’s an absurd claim in view of both
natural tragedies and human atrocities. When suffering, Christians might conclude either that
God does not love them or that He is not sufficiently protecting them. Paul said that in all things
God works to accomplish what is good for His people. Clearly God does not always spare His
people from tragedies, illnesses, and other adverse circumstances of life, or even shield them
from their opponents’ persecution. In any of these difficulties—and Paul listed some awful
ones—God is working for His people’s good.
Prosperity theology maintains that ―good‖ means God always physically heals or protects
trusting, praying believers from tragedies. But this teaching runs counter to the tenor of this
passage. In fact, to say that God always prospers His people borders on heresy, calling into
question God’s working of His sovereign purposes through His people’s suffering (5:3–5; see
James 1:2–4, 9–11). Rather than promising false hope, Paul encouraged the Romans to celebrate
in the midst of their adversities because God would bring about something good. You can count
on it.
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Prayer: God, you know my past, and how it chokes the joy from each moment; set me free
through your grace to live abundantly.