The Most Joyous or Stressful Time of Year?
The holiday season, often touted as the most joyous time of the year, can paradoxically become a source of overwhelming stress!
But we can find peace and joy and say goodbye to chaos by reflecting on the promises found in Isaiah, particularly the four names attributed to Jesus: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
When we stop and meditate on what is contained in these four names, our lives can be changed. We can find wisdom and direction; divine power to act on our behalf; a reliable, protective, and providing father; and not just a person of peace, but a prince of peace!
Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!
Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.
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Transcript
Isn't it ironic that what is supposed to be the most joyous time of the year often turns out to be the most stressful?
Speaker A:Well, if you are finding yourself a little overwhelmed, or maybe a lot overwhelmed during this Christmas season, stay tuned, take a breath, be encouraged as we dive into the chapter in Isaiah.
Speaker A:That's right, the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
Speaker B:If your desire is to become spiritually stronger, emotionally healthy, and relationally smarter, you're at the right place.
Speaker B:Speaker and writer Stephanie Smith inspires and equips you to achieve these three key aims.
Speaker B:If you're a parent, you also learn how to raise empowered kids ready for adulthood.
Speaker B:Let's get started.
Speaker A:A couple of days ago was the third Sunday of Advent.
Speaker A:And this is often associated with joy.
Speaker A:And yet, as I said in the opening so often, what is supposed to be the most joyous time of the year?
Speaker A:Celebrating this Christmas season becomes the least joyous time of the year because we are so overwhelmed now.
Speaker A:Being busy is different than being overwhelmed.
Speaker A:You can be very busy but not be overwhelmed and joyless.
Speaker A:But busyness can be one of those things that sucks the joy right out of you.
Speaker A:It depends on what's driving your busyness.
Speaker A:Whether it is intentional and it is thought out and you have allowed some margin in your life, or it is a matter that you are being driven by demands, by circumstances, by commitments, by responsibilities, and by trying to live up to expectations that other people are putting on you.
Speaker A:This coming Sunday will be the fourth Sunday of Advent.
Speaker A:And this is often where we really focus on the message of peace for the Christmas message and the Christmas season and what it's about, after all, the angel saying, peace on earth, goodwill toward men, and isn't that what human hearts long for?
Speaker A:Not just peace in my own life, but peace on earth.
Speaker A:There is a day coming that that will happen, but it's definitely not here today.
Speaker A:But that doesn't mean that we can't experience peace in our hearts.
Speaker A:Not the kind of peace that's dependent on what's going on externally, but the kind of peace that goes much deeper than that.
Speaker A:The kind of peace that Jesus talked about when he said to his disciples, my peace I leave with you.
Speaker A:Not the kind of peace that the world gives, which is very situationally based, but the kind of peace that I give to you, which is rooted in your relationship with me and along with joy.
Speaker A:You may be thinking, peace?
Speaker A:Are you kidding me?
Speaker A:Where in the world is peace?
Speaker A:Do you know how overwhelmed I am?
Speaker A:Well, I understand.
Speaker A:You know, in my weekly newsletter this week, one of the things that I write about is I have a picture of my Nativity set.
Speaker A:And every year when I set that out and I, and I position the sheep and the, all the different characters that, that make up that set, it's, it's all in order and it looks very peaceful and it looks very pleasant.
Speaker A:Well, now I have a four year old granddaughter who comes over and she loves to play with that Nativity set.
Speaker A:She especially loves to play with the little baby Jesus.
Speaker A:And I allow her to play with that even though it's not set up as a child's playset.
Speaker A:Because I don't want it to be something that she just can look at.
Speaker A:I mean, what's the point if it's not something that she can feel is approachable and it's something that is a way for her to show her four year old love for Jesus.
Speaker A:I don't want her to learn, hey, Jesus is off limits.
Speaker A:He's just someone that you're supposed to look at, but something that she can pick up and that she can feel and she can hold and it becomes real to her.
Speaker A:And I understand that making the gospel real is going to require a whole lot more than allowing her to play with a Nativity set.
Speaker A:But it's a small way to be able to do that.
Speaker A:But what invariably happens is when she's gone, the Nativity set looks like it got hit by a tornado.
Speaker A:It's not that she doesn't take care of the pieces, because she does, but she moves them around.
Speaker A:Some of them I find that are laying over on their side and, and all of the way that I've set it up is in total disarray.
Speaker A:And I wrote about that in this week's newsletter because that is how life is.
Speaker A:We have these images of how life is going to be and we, we work really hard to try to set everything up, to get all the pieces lined up, to put everything in its rightful place and then we can step back and we can just kind of admire it and then life happens.
Speaker A:And it may not be four year old life or if you're parenting kids, it might be 4 year old life or 2 or 12 or 20 or whatever.
Speaker A:But life has a way of coming along and knocking our pieces over, moving them around, leaving them in a state of disarray.
Speaker A:And we look at it and say that is not the way it's supposed to be.
Speaker A:I did all this work to get everything set up and put together.
Speaker A:And life, what have you done to me?
Speaker A:And when, not if, but when, that happens.
Speaker A:We have choices about how we are going to respond to that.
Speaker A:Just like I have a choice in how I respond to my granddaughter.
Speaker A:I can get upset with her and I can decide, okay, she doesn't get to play with this anymore because she's messing up my pieces.
Speaker A:Or I can just pick them up and I can put them back.
Speaker A:I could lecture her about how she has to put them back exactly the way that I had them.
Speaker A:There's a variety of different responses I can have or you know, what I can do.
Speaker A:What I can see there is.
Speaker A:I can see a child who wants to engage with this story and make it tangible and to be able to pick up these characters and to take care of baby Jesus and to move around the sheep and the shepherds and the wise men.
Speaker A:And yes, I know that they weren't all there together.
Speaker A:I get that.
Speaker A:And I can just say, hey, this is what 4 year olds do and let's just move on.
Speaker A:I could continue letting her play with the pieces and I could also become resentful in my heart about the state in which they were left.
Speaker A:But you know, that's kind of what it is for us in life as well.
Speaker A:When life comes along and knocks our pieces around and moves things around and doesn't go along with the way that we've decided that things ought to be.
Speaker A:We can walk away from God, we can continue doing the things externally, but while internally our hearts are becoming resentful, we can lecture God, we can whine, we can complain, we can have all kinds of choices about how we're going to respond.
Speaker A:But I want to encourage you today that you look at Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6, and what you see there is what we have available to us in the coming of Christ.
Speaker A:Isaiah 96 says to us, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
Speaker A:And his name shall be called.
Speaker A:Wonderful Counselor.
Speaker A:Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Speaker A:Four different names are listed there.
Speaker A:This doesn't even include the other prophecies that we read in the different places in the Old Testament.
Speaker A:And it doesn't even include what we read in the New Testament.
Speaker A:It doesn't include Immanuel or Jesus.
Speaker A:But I want us to look at these four particular things.
Speaker A:And in this I want you to have peace and joy.
Speaker A:Because you can see in these four things, in these four names we have everything that we need.
Speaker A:What's the first one?
Speaker A:Wonderful Counselor?
Speaker A:Have you ever needed help figuring something out?
Speaker A:Whether it was something small, whether it was something for yourself as an individual or a parent or perhaps a spouse or a family member or a colleague in any of the different roles of life as mature people.
Speaker A:One of the things that we figure out is we need help.
Speaker A:We don't know it all, we don't have all the answers.
Speaker A:We never get to the point that we do.
Speaker A:And even though we can continue to build a knowledge base of wisdom and understanding, the more that we do so, the more we figure out how much more that we need and Jesus is a wonderful counselor.
Speaker A:Not just a smart counselor, not just an effective counselor, but a wonderful counselor.
Speaker A:Now for myself, I have spent a lot of time throughout my adult years in a wide variety of counselors offices.
Speaker A:I have sought counseling from Christians as well as non Christians.
Speaker A:I've had counseling from both individuals as well as married couples, pastoral, lay, professional, kind of covered the gamut.
Speaker A:And I can tell you that I have had some really great counselors.
Speaker A:People that I would say were wonderful.
Speaker A:And truth be told, I've had some that were anything but.
Speaker A:And it's not that they were abusive or that they were hateful or unkind or idiots or anything like that.
Speaker A:It was just a matter that they had an understanding of something that was about as thin as a cracker and in some cases about as flaky.
Speaker A:Just because somebody has the name counselor and no matter what their credentials are that come before or after that I have learned, doesn't make them a wonderful counselor.
Speaker A:One of my recommendations, this is just a bonus tip I'm going to throw in for the day, is if you are ever in a place where you're going to seek counseling, which is a great thing to do, interview the counselor first.
Speaker A:Don't just go in and start pouring out all your heart and life story because they might not be a wonderful counselor.
Speaker A:Now, maybe they're really good for somebody else, but they're not a good fit for you.
Speaker A:And maybe they really shouldn't be in the profession to begin with.
Speaker A:Counselors are just people.
Speaker A:They're people with a skill set or a knowledge base or a desire to help others.
Speaker A:But they're still just people.
Speaker A:And they are going to be limited by their own life experience.
Speaker A:They're going to have their own blinders to certain things in life.
Speaker A:They're going to have their own skill set.
Speaker A:But Jesus is a wonderful counselor.
Speaker A:And we, we don't need to avoid other people and say, oh, I'm just only ever going to get my counsel from God.
Speaker A:Because God makes it clear throughout his word that one of the ways that he does counsel people and bring us wisdom is through other individuals.
Speaker A:But that doesn't mean that he doesn't also give us counsel directly ourselves, whether that is through the reading of the Scripture and things that the Holy Spirit brings to light to us and gives application to us.
Speaker A:That as we are reading through the Bible or it's by directing our thoughts as we pray and as we meditate and as we just ask him, God, I need wisdom in this particular situation.
Speaker A:So if you are finding yourself in this season, maybe overwhelmed or struggling or grieving or anxious or whatever it is, know this, that you have a God who is not ticked off and annoyed with you.
Speaker A:And he is not sitting there going, seriously, you don't have this figured out yet?
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker A:How many times do I have to give you counseling before you finally get your act together?
Speaker A:That is not God.
Speaker A:He is a wonderful counselor who is there and ready and eager to give the wisdom and the guidance that you need.
Speaker A:The second list in this verse In Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6 is that he is the mighty God.
Speaker A:Now this can be something we kind of like, yeah, what?
Speaker A:Okay, mighty God, I mean, what's the big deal?
Speaker A:But really think about this in terms especially of the time period in which this was written.
Speaker A:The world was full of beliefs in numerous deities, hundreds, thousands of deities that different people groups believed in at the time.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:A lot of those gods were not mighty, or they were mighty in one area, but they were very inefficient or inept or incapable in other areas.
Speaker A:So maybe you had the God of war who was very mighty, perhaps in war according to the beliefs of that people group, but, you know, was pretty inept when it came to being able to give counsel on relationships or anything like that.
Speaker A:Most of the gods in other belief systems would not have been called mighty.
Speaker A:They would have been called temperamental.
Speaker A:They would have been known as fearful or intimidating or tyrannical or a lot of other kinds of adjectives.
Speaker A:Because basically they were really kind of like toddlers with supernatural powers is what a lot of their characters were like in those belief systems.
Speaker A:What we would say now was mythology, but was very real to the people during those time periods.
Speaker A:And Isaiah writes that, no, he is going to be the mighty God.
Speaker A:He's not ineffective, he's not inept.
Speaker A:He's not at the whims of other gods or goddesses.
Speaker A:He is not constrained by humans.
Speaker A:He is a God of might, of power.
Speaker A:He has the ability to get stuff done.
Speaker A:And sometimes that's what we need.
Speaker A:Sometimes what we need is we just need a God who has might and power.
Speaker A:And we can come to and ask to intercede, to intervene, to do something mighty because it is way beyond our ability to make happen.
Speaker A:It is something that we can do our best and show up with our responsibilities and steward our abilities.
Speaker A:But there's a point to which our own strength and energy runs out and we just have to say, God, you are going to have to make this happen, because I can't do it on my own.
Speaker A:The third list that we have here is that he is the everlasting Father.
Speaker A:And sometimes this is the title that creates the most ambivalence in people.
Speaker A:It can stir up a wide range of emotions in people.
Speaker A:Most people would be able to say, yeah, okay, I can see a need for a wonderful counselor, maybe even a mighty God.
Speaker A:But when we start talking about fathers, every person has had an earthly father.
Speaker A:Even if they didn't know that father, they still have had one.
Speaker A:And depending on the character of that person, depending on the relationship that you had with your father or didn't have, that has shaped to some degree or another how you are going to perceive God.
Speaker A:Now, that is not a set in stone statement.
Speaker A:That is not.
Speaker A:Don't look at that as a limitation on your life.
Speaker A:If you had a crappy earthly father, and let's just be honest, many people do, that does not mean that you are chained to struggling your entire life with believing that God is going to be the same way towards you.
Speaker A:What we're talking about here are not things and beliefs that are set in stone.
Speaker A:Rather, we're talking about the influence that they have.
Speaker A:And that might mean that one person is going to have to do more work to believe that having an everlasting father is a good thing.
Speaker A:Whereas for somebody else it may just be an automatic kind of thing.
Speaker A:One person may think, oh, I so wish that my earthly father would be here throughout the rest of my entire life, because what of what they mean to me?
Speaker A:Or if they've already lost that parent, what they did mean to me?
Speaker A:But God is everlasting in the sense that he doesn't quit, he doesn't leave, he doesn't give up, he doesn't bail, he doesn't show up when it's convenient and then disappear when it's not.
Speaker A:He's reliable.
Speaker A:He is everlasting.
Speaker A:He is ever present.
Speaker A:He's in it for the duration.
Speaker A:He can be counted on.
Speaker A:He is committed to you.
Speaker A:He is committed to your well being.
Speaker A:He is committed to your growth.
Speaker A:He is committed to your success.
Speaker A:He is committed to your welfare.
Speaker A:He's not temperamental.
Speaker A:He's not a tyrant.
Speaker A:He's not flaky and overbearing.
Speaker A:He is everlasting because he's for you.
Speaker A:And the last name that we have in this list is Prince of Peace.
Speaker A:Could you use some more peace this time of year?
Speaker A: As you look into next year in: Speaker A:Well, Jesus is the Prince of peace now here in the United States.
Speaker A:And I know that there are listeners to this podcast that do not live in the United States.
Speaker A:And so welcome.
Speaker A:It is wonderful to have listeners in other countries.
Speaker A:But here in the United States, we do not have a monarchy.
Speaker A:Haven't had a monarchy for quite a long time.
Speaker A:So the word prince does not have the same intrinsic emotional meaning to us, whether that's positive or negative that it may have for people in countries that still have a monarchy.
Speaker A:But a prince is a person who has authority.
Speaker A:Now, the level of that authority and the type of that authority is going to vary depending on what type of monarchy it is.
Speaker A:But a prince does have some level of authority.
Speaker A:They have the ability to get stuff done.
Speaker A:They also are representative of a government.
Speaker A:They are representative of order.
Speaker A:They represent a place of eminence and prestige, a place of respect and honor.
Speaker A:A prince is a person of royalty.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:As God's people, the Bible tells us that we are heirs together with Jesus Christ.
Speaker A:We are are part of a royal priesthood.
Speaker A:We're not scum, we're not dirt, we're not on the same plane as other creatures.
Speaker A:We have a royalty because we are made in God's image.
Speaker A:And as co heirs of Jesus Christ, we have been brought into his kingdom.
Speaker A:And that kingdom, one of the values of that kingdom is the prince of peace.
Speaker A:It doesn't say the prince of fear.
Speaker A:Jesus is not the prince of chaos.
Speaker A:He is not the prince of overwhelm.
Speaker A:He is the prince of peace.
Speaker A:And when we are not experiencing on an ongoing way his presence and a sense of peace, peace in our lives, then something is a mess that lets us know, hey, we have kind of stepped outside of the kingdom in some way because Jesus is the prince of peace.
Speaker A:And if we are living as part of his kingdom, that is a trait that ought to be present in our lives.
Speaker A:And it is something that you can come and ask him for.
Speaker A:You know, that's one of the things about people in authority, is that they have the ability to answer people's requests.
Speaker A:For someone to be able to come and to make an appeal and to say, this is what I need from you.
Speaker A:You occupy this position of authority as a prince.
Speaker A:I need you to do this for me.
Speaker A:And we can come to God and we can come to Jesus and we can say, as the Prince of Peace, I want you to bless me with your peace.
Speaker A:That is absolutely something that we can do.
Speaker A:So as we go through these next several days with Christmas, and then as we move from celebrating Advent and looking at the coming of Christ, and then we celebrate that he did come, and he did come as a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace, we know that he is present still with us today through the Holy Spirit and that one day he will show up again on this literal earth, not in some sort of ghost like apparition and not as a baby, but he will show up as authority and that there is coming a day where there will be world peace because God will take back the direct rule of his creation.
Speaker A:So whether you most need God during this time and Jesus to show up as your wonderful counselor, your mighty God, your everlasting Father, or your Prince of Peace, or all four of those, ask him to be those things in your life in a real and meaningful way because he is eager to show up in those ways in your life.
Speaker A: the last podcast episode for: Speaker A:Take a couple of weeks off.
Speaker A: We'll be back in: Speaker A:Going to have already have several guest podcast episodes that have been recorded and I'm looking forward to bringing those to you.
Speaker A:And there's just going to be some different direction taken overall with the podcast and also with my work.
Speaker A:But you can go to the website still.
Speaker A:Stephanie presents.com Sign up for the weekly newsletter there High impact.
Speaker A:And as we close out, not just this year with the podcast, but as you close out this calendar year, I want to encourage you.
Speaker A: the one commitment to make in: Speaker A:It is living and active.
Speaker A:It is unlike anything else that has ever been written.
Speaker A:And through this you can experience God's counseling, His power, his presence and his peace like in no other way that you can avail yourself of.
Speaker A:And why bother doing all of that?
Speaker A:Well, there's more than one reason, but one is because you really do have an impact that is immeasurable, eternal, and irreplaceable.
Speaker A: the year and I'll see you in: Speaker B:Thank you for listening.
Speaker B:Visit the website stephaniepresents.com and sign up for High Impact to join the mission of building spiritually strong, emotionally healthy, and relationally smart women and families.
Speaker B:You can also book Stephanie to speak at your event and check out additional resources.
Speaker B:Together we can invite and equip generations to engage fully in God's grand story.
