I decorated for Christmas yesterday, and my heart wasn’t in it. It’s the first time I’ve really done it, tree and all, since we lost our Jimmy.
My heart was sad, empty, aching.
My sweet Austin noticed the tears, wrapped me in a hug, then played Christmas music for us. We sang…loudly.
And just like that:
Grief was infused with joy.
Lament was mingled with celebration.
Loss was mitigated with love.
In this Advent season, I ponder what made all that possible. (Actually 𝐰𝐡𝐨 made it all possible.) Jesus—the Word made flesh. Emmanuel—𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬.
The delicious truth is that the real story of Christmas is not just that a baby was born, but that a Savior was born. A Redeemer. The long-awaited Messiah. God’s provision for man’s sin.
God would now 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 in person, 𝐚𝐬 a person. A baby.
The incarnation displays for us nobility humbled. God Himself accepting the limitations of humanity. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬, God knew what it was to be tired, to be hungry, to be afraid.
He 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 to us as 𝐨𝐧𝐞 of us, and destroyed the powers that divide us, forever. The infinite became an infant. The Eternal One became a child.
At Christmas, we tend to focus on the baby in the manger, but there was, in that little baby, all the strength of Deity. The power of God was in those tiny hands, with a strength that was Divine.
Think of Christ, healing the blind, the lame, the sick. Think of Christ calling Lazarus from the tomb. Think of Christ triumphing over sin, death, and the grave.
What he decreed, He had the power to deliver. He did then, and He does now.
Christmas proclaims that 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. Here. Among us. With us. Beside us. There is no circumstance, season, or place where He is not.
Wherever someone is giving a cool drink of water in His name, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Wherever there is grace extended, and forgiveness offered, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Wherever tears stream, or laughter rings, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. He was yesterday.
Wherever there is defeat, 𝐨𝐫 triumph, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Whether hope fades, or springs eternal, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
In our celebrations, or our losses, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
When we don’t sense Him, 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
In our sin, our weakness, our joy, our adversity. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
Yesterday, He turned our sorrow into dancing. Literally. He did it, because 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬. Though grief lingers, losses wound, and sorrows weigh, we never walk alone, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. This is our hope.
“The best of all is, God is with us.”
~ 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲
