This article was originally written by Hance Dilbeck and uploaded to the Baptist Press.

People struggle from the end of November to the beginning of January. The holidays are difficult. Unrealistic expectations clash with cold hard realities. Everyone around us is pretending and projecting the same false narrative –“All is merry and bright.” As a man who is beginning to qualify for the senior citizen discount, as a husband, father, and grandfather of 10, as one who served as a pastor for 30 years, I need to tell you. “Merry and bright” is true for next to no one.

Let’s tell you the truth about Christmas, the Bible Truth.

Christmas comes in a dark world to disappointed people. Not merry and bright, disappointed and dark. Somehow, setting honest expectations helps us find true Christmas joy.

Consider the New Testament stories of the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke.

Both Matthew and Luke set the birth of Jesus “in the days of King Herod.” This marks more than chronology. These were dark days of moral corruption, political oppression and spiritual confusion. Herod was a violent pretender, as the Wise Men would soon discover.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and unable to have children, the biblical vocabulary is “barren.” Mary was betrothed to Joseph when “it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant.” (Maybe one of the most emotionally fraught phrases in the Bible – imagine the anxiety, fear, doubt, anger in both households.) Joseph struggled with the pregnancy and its personal and social implications.

Away and alone in Bethlehem, no room in the inn, born in a barn, laid in a manger – no young couple would ever dream of this kind of beginning.

Then, the young family flees for their lives to Egypt and live as refugees. Even when they return to Judah they are afraid to live in Bethlehem, so Jesus is raised as a Nazarene.

The New Testament accounts of the birth of Jesus are marked by disappointment, disbelief, violence and fear. This is not exactly a Hallmark Christmas special.

So, if you are away or alone, if you have suffered rejection, if you are poor or afraid or confused or just profoundly sad. If you have been misunderstood or mistreated. You are ready for Christmas. For people living in the real world, in a dark and disappointing world, the birth of Jesus is good news.

Don’t be afraid, for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you, Who is Christ, the Lord.