“He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.” Matthew 12:20, Isaiah 42:3, NLT

When my children were younger, we lived in a small Massachusetts town where we developed an unusual family tradition around the Christmas Eve service at our church. Since the church was only two blocks away, we would always walk to and from this service, regardless of the weather. The cold night air and the Christmas lights all added to the festivity of the evening. Of course if snow was on the ground or in the air, that just made it even more special.

The service always ended with a candle-lighting ceremony accompanied by the singing of “Silent Night.” For this, each person received a small, hand-held candle as he or she came in, and at the appropriate time, the church was darkened and the pastor would light one candle on the front row, from which the whole room would soon be glowing as the flame was passed on from person to person.

What made it especially unique was the fact that the pastor’s candle was lit from the advent candelabra – whose flame had also passed from candle to candle representing the weeks of advent, culminating in the large Christmas Eve candle in the middle that was lit at the beginning of this service. So you could trace this flame back from the beginning of advent.

This is where our own family tradition took over. We wouldn’t blow out our candles at the end of the service as everyone else did. We figured that if the light had lasted that long, it deserved better treatment. So we would keep our candles going after the service and all the way home to light our own Yule log that was waiting in the fireplace. It became very symbolic. From advent candle to living room fire – from spiritual fire to home fire burning – this light always started our Christmas hope.

I remember the year the wind was so cold and strong that we all had to huddle tightly to keep our candles from going out – slowly inching our way against the storm, lighting and relighting from whoever had their flame still burning, our backs to the wind, and our faces barely glowing in the flickering wick. We had a couple close calls that year and it was our 7-year-old daughter who for some reason kept her candle going for the rest of us.

I’ve always cherished this memory as a picture of faith and fellowship – how we pass the light of faith on to each other and how when we stick together, everyone is important. Sometimes the smallest and weakest keep the light burning.

Question: What can make it difficult to keep your candle of faith burning?

About the Author: John Fischer

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

When my daughter was four we had an opportunity to live in England for 9 months.  It was a wonderful experience.  Our assignment was up in December so we packed up our household to ship it back to the States; packed a suitcase for each of us and headed off to Germany to visit some friends we had made during a work assignment before our daughter was born.  We celebrated an early English Christmas with our new friends in England and then celebrated an early German/American Christmas with our friends in Germany.

As it turned out, we arrived in the USA on Christmas Eve with no luggage and no rental car.   We were all very travel weary and not too happy to be “stranded” with what we had on our persons and not many options available on Christmas Eve to get some basics such as clean underwear, pajamas, etc.  The airline and motel graciously gave us toothbrushes, etc but most stores are not open on Christmas Day so we were stuck.  We had planned to take a rental car to visit my family but there were no rental cars to be had that Christmas Eve.  Somehow our reservation got lost.

We dragged our travel weary bodies to a nice hotel near the airport and decided to make the best of things.   My brother offered to come and get us but we turned down his offer not wanting to disrupt his holiday with a long road trip.

Christmas morning we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast at the hotel dining room.   On the way back to our room, I was overcome with nausea and spent the rest of the day flat in bed.

Here we were on Christmas day with no change of clothes, no family, no tree, and no gifts for my daughter.  Rather than get upset, I decided to count my blessings.   We were safe, we had just had an adventure of a lifetime, we had good food to eat, a nice place to stay and our basic needs were met.  How many people in the world would gladly change places with us at that moment?

Later that day the car rental company found a car for us, I was feeling better and the weather was just perfect for heading north so before the day was over we were able to be with my family for this special day.

I learned a valuable lesson that day.  Christmas is a special time but it isn’t about gifts, decorations and all the external things.   Christmas is realizing that Jesus came to bring us hope…not just a fleeting hope…but a genuine hope that He will work all things together for good to them who are called according to his purpose.   He promised to supply our needs and He did. What more could I need or want?

Father God,
Thank you for the promise of Your provision. Even when things don’t look hopeful help me to anticipate Your help and strength and to see Your blessings where I am today. In Your name, amen.

Questions: How do you respond when things don’t go according to plan?

About this Author: Joyce Gardenour

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, 24-Hour Faith, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog