Fearing Good News || A Grinchy Christmas || Part 1

We all like to hear good news. It always feels great to hear someone celebrating something or something good happening to a friend or a family member. It’s good to hear something good, especially when we feel like we constantly hear bad news. I believe we get so overwhelmed by bad news or negative thought patterns that we take the slightest good news and over-celebrate it because it’s the first good thing we’ve heard
. Let’s look at this good news:

Luke 1:45 says, “You are blessed because you believe what the Lord said to you would really happen.” This verse is Elizabeth’s response to seeing Mary showing up pregnant with our Lord and Savior. At this same time, Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist and is now celebrating Mary’s pregnancy. It’s easy to celebrate your cousin being pregnant with their first child, but what we haven’t talked about yet is Mary’s feelings about it.

Mary came around to celebrate being pregnant, but it didn’t come immediately. The angel Gabriel came to her and told her how blessed she was because of God, which was confusing. Gabriel later told her that she would be pregnant with the future Savior, resulting in fear, anxiety, and panic. Mary hears about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, resulting in more peace and supposed calmness. We don’t know her thought pattern on her trip to Elizabeth’s house, but as the over-thinker I am, as I mentioned last week, I’m sure her mind was running like crazy.

I’d assume Elizabeth went through this same thing, and Zechariah remained quiet until everything the angel said came true. Zechariah panicked when the angel told him that Elizabeth would be pregnant because she couldn’t get pregnant before, and they were both ancient. Again, the excellent news for Zechariah and Elizabeth didn’t celebrate joy immediately, but almost after five months.

It’s okay to be apprehensive about good news. When it happens to us, we may feel like we don’t deserve it or like, “When’s the other shoe going to drop?” Some of us may feel like this because we have had such lousy news that good news is just out of character. The holiday season can also bring that up, with families gathering, deciding what gifts to get, how much to decorate, and so much more. We celebrate our families getting together, but we also fear the conversations that will happen around the table. We want to get our loved ones the best gifts, but our budgets may not be able to afford them, or they’re too snobby to receive a dollar-store gift. The holidays can be a time of celebration. That time usually comes on the day of, but what often is hidden is the amount of stress, grief, headaches, and heartbreak that leads up to that moment.

So, if you’re feeling like this, it’s okay. You’re not alone. Take it a step and a breath at a time because you have the same reminder that Gabriel told Mary. The Lord has blessed us with what we have and is with us at all times. Amen.