A Special Message From The President of Isaiah Industries

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December 16, 2018 | Filed under: Newsletter Articles

I want to start by wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season. It seems that just “doing life” these days can be quite all-consuming. So many demands, and everything happening at an all-too-frantic pace. I hope that, as 2018 comes to a close, you have time to gather with family and friends for celebration, reflection, and relaxation. We all need more of those things.

For me, as we approach Christmas, I reflect a great deal on my faith and the importance of Christmas to it. I would like to take a moment to share some of my thoughts with those of you who are interested.

This may surprise you but, for the last several years, my family has done minimal (as in sometimes “zero”) Christmas decorating. It started out during a Christmas when we had two young puppies in our house and we were concerned that a Christmas tree would be too tempting for their never-ending curiosity. So, we decided to forgo the tree that year … and the next … and the next. (That “curious puppy stage” lasted a while for those two!)

But, you know what, as time went on, I began to see how worrying about Christmas decorations distracted us from celebrating the birth of our Savior – the most important thing about Christmas. If something just adds to the hurriedness and worries of the season and distracts from the real meaning, was there really any point? We do enjoy looking at others’ brightly colored decorations and we see them as a focal point of celebration but, for us, decorating just has not seemed like the right place to spend our time and energy (which, admittedly, seems to be a little less each year with age).

Looking back on 2018, it has seemed particularly difficult for the world in which we live. Sometimes it feels like we hear a new horrible story in the news each hour. We see people hurting and we see people not caring for and loving their fellow man. We see people suffering horrible illnesses. We see lives snuffed out far too young, given up to addiction or hopelessness.

Everywhere I look, I find myself praying for miracles … praying for God to step down and intervene and provide relief from the pain and suffering that plague those around me. I pray for an end to the turmoil in the world … an end to pain and hunger and hurt. An end to the demons that seem to drive people to hurt one another – both emotionally and physically.

So, we keep praying, confident that God does still work in our world and that miracles do happen. Our prayers seek His guidance and courage as we strive to be instrumental in carrying out His miracles … in loving each other more deeply and more demonstratively.

In the third chapter of Luke, we see John the Baptist doing his thing – baptizing and telling people to prepare for the One who was coming soon — all leading up to the baptism of Christ our Messiah. When John is asked “What should we do then?” by those he has baptized, his reply talks of treating each other with love and justice, fairness and respect. If you have two shirts, give away one. Don’t extort money. Don’t accuse people falsely.

All of these things are ways in which we are still called to be part of God’s work here on earth. And we keep praying for those miracles, confident in the power of God and seeking how we can be a part of what He’s doing by trying (so inadequately but still trying) to love as lavishly and freely as He does.

But, at Christmas, one thing is crystal clear. Despite our cries for help in the midst of all the pain, the ugliness, and the chaos, we already have the one and only miracle we need. That is the baby born of lowly means and lying in a manger, destined to become the only perfect person to ever walk this earth, destined to become our Savior – our deliverer – the One who will lift us up from the mess of our own making … and love us without measure.

So, despite all that’s going on, whether you choose to decorate for Christmas or not, may we all look to the one and only miracle we need – Jesus Christ. Only He can change the world, bringing hope and restoration. I wish you and yours a very blessed Christmas and a good New Year. May we all go forth and be Jesus in the world.