It’s Christmastime! It’s that special time of year when peace and love seem just a little bit closer … the time we all honor the traditions that are near and dear to us … the time we anticipate our children excitedly running downstairs to see what Santa brought … the time we go to church on Christmas Eve to remember the REAL reason for the season.

This Christmas, and all future Christmases, will be forever changed for the families of the twenty small children and seven adults senselessly gunned down by a young man in Newtown, Connecticut. School is the place where our children are safe. That statement doesn’t seem to hold true in America anymore. Kindergarten and elementary schools are on imposed lock-down and middle and high schools force attendees and visitors through metal detectors to protect the innocent. Those safeguards didn’t work for the victims in Newtown.

So … everyone wants to know: WHY? Why did this happen? Why at Christmastime? Why these small, blameless children? These questions will be asked repeatedly, and unfortunately, we’ll never know why. It is ever so sad that we are unable to prevent tragedy of this kind – or any other. No matter how hard we try, heartbreak and misfortune happen. As “one nation under God,” we can reduce the pathetic slaughter of young children, but we all know it won’t be eliminated. One never knows when his/her life on earth will end. But, why children at Christmas?

Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, God knew that sin and tragedy would permeate the perfect world He created. Because of His love for all, He sent His only son – Jesus. Jesus was born in a manger, in a barn surrounded by oxen and lambs, over 2000 years ago – on what we now know as Christmas Day – so that we would Always have Hope in a World of Despair. No matter what the tragedy, He is always there to comfort us – to pick us up when we fall and to hold our hands when we cry. Because of Jesus – His birth, death and resurrection – we can have life eternal.

We will continue to ask why. Jesus knows the answer. He knows that the Newtown, CT children are in Heaven, where they will be eternally safe with Him. And I know that His hand is reaching out to their parents, and all who are suffering.  He is reminding them that He understands.

God, the Father, also suffered a great loss – the “death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8) of His only son. Jesus was crucified – deliberate slow and painful execution, nailed to the cross and left to hang until dead. What a horrible death. God did not need to lose His son. He did it willingly to Save us.

It is my prayer that this Christmas is exceptional for you. No matter what you are going through, He is there for you. The Christmas story is real. It is a story of Renewal and Hope for all who Believe.

Finally, I would like to leave you with these words from the chorus of “Because He Lives” by Bill Gaither.

Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He Lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

Merry Christmas and may the God of grace and peace deliver very Happy 2013 to you and yours.

Love,
David