On my heart this Christmas Day:
For Joseph and Mary, that first Christmas was not glamorous or "Instagram-worthy." It wasn’t picture-perfect or wrapped up with ribbon. It was messy, it was dirty, it was lonely. It was hard.
We read in the Bible of how the angel appears to the virgin Mary with the news that she has been chosen to be the mother of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. This angel, Gabriel, tells of how Mary has found favor with God and the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the Son of God will be conceived in her womb.
His message is of joy, of peace, of hope. Of news that would change the world forever.
And yet the angel’s message from the Lord leaves out several key details of how this will all play out. There’s no mention of Joseph’s initial distrust of Mary when he discovers she is pregnant. No mention of the long journey from Galilee to Bethlehem when she’s near the time of giving birth. No mention of an inn with no room. There’s no mention of Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the King of kings, lying in a manger surrounded by animals. No mention of unclean, lowly shepherds being the first ones to visit the Christ child. There’s no mention yet even of crazy King Herod’s plot to find and kill the baby. No mention of the necessity of fleeing to Egypt.
Into this chaos, into this mess, into this struggle - Jesus is born. Our Savior, our Redeemer, the Lord of all. God incarnate comes into our brokenness and our hardship and He gives us Himself.
When Jesus breathed His first breath and opened His eyes to see the world He created, the darkness of the world could not compare to His Light.The mess, the brokenness, the struggle was all used by God to prepare the way, to fulfill His promise, to bring about the birth of a Baby Boy who would alter the course of history eternally.
The trials, the challenges, the battles we fight aren't to break us, to discourage us, to destroy us. No. They're purposed by God to bring about His greatest Gift into our lives - Himself. He is God with us - Emmanuel. It's all to bring us to our knees where we can bow before this Savior so we live in awe of Jesus - not of ourselves, our accomplishments, our success, our name. No. It's about Him. It's all for Him. It's all because of Him.
There's a Gift that's perfect for every broken, seeking, fragile, hardened, wandering human heart. A Gift given long before any of us were born but given with us in mind. A Gift God has given us the choice to receive or reject. If received, this is the Gift of redemption, of righteousness, of hope, of Truth, of freedom, of love, of grace. His name is Jesus.