It’s the holidays! The most wonderful time of the year, right? Well, maybe.
This truth is every year there is a significant segment of people who are experiencing the holiday season as anything but wonderful. They have been hurting and struggling, and the holiday exuberance only deepens their angst and pain. Some of these people may be in your extended family, the people you love the most.
I am sure you have heard about EQ (Emotional Quotient), which is a measure of our emotional intelligence. It’s the level of understanding and appropriate use of our understanding of other people and situations. High emotional EQ requires having a high level of empathy.
Empathy. This is the big one! Empathy is the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others as if they were your own. It's the act of "putting yourself in someone else's shoes," as many like to say. Those with a high amount of empathy take joy in helping others, offering compliments, and generally uplifting those around them.
We who know Christ will have opportunities because of the holiday to connect with family and friends whom perhaps we have not seen in months. We need to be praying, looking, and listening to hear what people are going through. As my dad used to say so often, “Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” It could be relational, physical, spiritual, financial –anything. They could even be struggling with weather-related problems that don’t affect you. But whatever it is, they desperately need a lift.
Patty and I just had this opportunity over Thanksgiving. We prayed for opportunities to be agents of encouragement, to spread hope and love to those we would encounter. And there were plenty of opportunities – in stores, working, and in our neighborhood and family.
Life is always challenging, complicated, and confusing. For many, it becomes more so with the additional expectations of the holidays. It’s easy to feel lost and alone with your emotions and thoughts that conflict with the prevailing sentiments around you.
This is the perfect time to intentionally heighten your EQ. Ask God to show you opportunities to seize moments to represent Christ in a very strategic and sensitive way. You may not have the full answer for their struggles. You may not even understand completely. But more than answers from you, people are looking for presence and compassion, for the sense they are seen, heard, and valued. You can always offer that.
And here’s the thing. When you care, you give hope. If they are already Christ-followers, you encourage their faith. If not, you represent Jesus and His followers as those who care. God may use you to raise their spiritual curiosity.
If you invite them into your home, you can invite them into the traditions that solidify your faith and community, and they may find themselves unusually drawn and helped. For instance, at our home we always read a portion of Scripture and reflect on our lives over the last year. We pray for needs that were shared. These times include plenty of laughter, conversation, and encouragement. It may be the first time in a long time that one of them was in a safe environment. You never know how God will use it
Even for struggling people, “the most wonderful time of the year” could become unusually blessed for someone who was expecting only more of the same discouragement and futility if they interact with you, a believer in Jesus, spreading the hope of the world.