The holidays can be stressful, no matter who you are or how much you love the people in your life. We all have hopes and expectations for what we want in our holiday celebrations, and it can be difficult to know how to respond when those hopes and expectations aren’t met.

For most people, this is a season of hope and love. If you’re reading this, perhaps you’re familiar with the story… God sent his only begotten Son, meaning there is no other person in history like Him. At every stage of His human existence, Jesus was our Savior…God in the flesh. Just like us, God cried and crawled. He toddled around and learned to walk. He endured sibling rivalry and adolescence. He had to grow into manhood and walk through trials and temptations. He was scorned and scoffed at, ridiculed and ultimately crucified for who He was…and that was the most excruciating crucifixion on record.

Think about that…the birth we are to celebrate at Christmas led to an absolutely unheard of death. People were known to suffer on the cross for days before succumbing to death, but Jesus was beaten and tortured so severely on His WAY to the cross, he only lasted hours. Through all of that, He never chose His own way over that of His Father in Heaven. He chose, instead, to stay in His lane. He chose to walk the path that was given to Him, and through it all He continued to love and forgive, despite the venom of those who despised Him.

He gave nothing but love and truth, and yet they hated Him. Why?? Because He threatened their hold on the people. He spoke truth to everyone who could hear Him, and He loved and accepted people for who they were inside, not what they were on the outside. He was their way home to God the Father. ANYONE’S way home. EVERYONE’S way home. He was putting all of the greedy, self-serving high priests out of business.

I feel sure He had expectations that were not met, but He accepted what WAS and didn’t get weighed down by what wasn’t. People struggle in this life. Money gets tight, tensions run high, time gets short, and we lose our focus. We allow ourselves to get sucked into the trappings of humanity, and forget to focus on the loving and patient example of the one whom we are celebrating.

Try to release your expectations of those around you…try to see them as Christ would have seen them with His human eyes. As trite as it sounds, when you find yourself losing patience or weighed down by disappointment, ask yourself what Jesus would do, and then do your best to follow suit.