Joy to the world, the Lord has come!! An angel appeared to shepherds in a field to announce the birth of Jesus. “Do not be afraid I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people”(Luke 2:10)
As a child, I loved Christmas. I grew up in Ohio around my mom’s family. The anticipation of Christmas was exciting. We would go to our grandparents around Christmas, I can’t remember exactly, but I think Christmas Eve. We had dinner with family then we got to open presents. On the way home, I would hope for snow to give us a white Christmas. Sometimes my wish came true, and other times it was just a dull brown day. That did not take away from my excitement of Christmas morning and wondering if I would get what I wanted?
My dad was a minister, so Santa Claus was not a big deal in our house. We were allowed to believe in Santa, but my parents always stressed the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of our Savior who gave us the ultimate gift – Salvation. I remember seeing Santa and telling him what I wanted. In reality, I don’t think I believed Santa would bring the presents; I think I just wanted the candy cane!
Christmas now is different from those wide-eyed days of my childhood. I have gifts to buy and wrap, decorate the house, cook, Christmas cards, etc. It has become very stressful. Somewhere along the line, I lost my excitement about the holiday. Every year it would get more stressful to the point where I would hate Christmas. This year I am determined that I will not utter the phrase “I hate Christmas”. I am going to embrace Christmas and, most importantly, rejoice in my gift of salvation.
I thought about blessings and plans that I am waiting on God to fulfill. Mary came to mind. An angel told her that she would give birth to the Messiah (Luke 1:29-33). She had to wait nine months to give birth. Instead of it being a glorious time, it was not an easy waiting period. She had to travel late in her pregnancy for the census (Luke 2:1-5). No one wants to travel long distances that late in pregnancy. The journey had to be very tiring and burdensome. Once she arrived in Bethlehem, it was time for Jesus to be born. “And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:7) These were not ideal conditions to give birth. Then, her baby, Jesus, is born in that stark, cold place, and she has no place to lay her precious son but a feeding troth. She is the mother of the Savior, and she had to go through pain and trial to fulfill this blessing and promise. I also go through pain and difficulty for God’s blessings and plans to be fulfilled in my life. The idea of waiting and hardships goes against my makeup and our society. We live in an instant gratification world that tries to mitigate any hardship and take the easy way out. I look back over my life and realize that I would not be where I am today without the hardships and trials. Mary had to go through all she did to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus’ birth. I realize that God is not calling me to give birth to the Savior of the World or fulfill an ancient prophecy. However, He does want me to wait upon Him for His perfect time to work in and complete His plans for my life.
As I am wrapping my Christmas presents, I see different shapes and sizes. I use diverse wrapping paper to give Christmas morning a lot of color and variety. Is this how God gives me gifts? Gifts displayed in different shapes and sizes, wrapped in various paper? There was always the one present my children would want on Christmas morning. They would go from one present to the next looking for that special present. Do I tear through all God’s gifts to me, looking for the “one” and miss blessings along the journey? Now my children are older and learning to enjoy the journey of Christmas morning, not the destination of the one longed-for present. This new outlook encourages me to enjoy the journey of the blessed life God has given me. Take my time with each gift and enjoy it. God showed me to be grateful for each present along the journey and not just discard it while looking for the one longed-for answer or blessing. I need to recognize everything that comes into my life is from God. One blessing is not better than the next. Each one is special and personally chosen for me from my Heavenly Father. Just like every gift to my children is handpicked for them. They do not receive everything on their Christmas lists, and God does not give me everything on my wish list either. I need to be more like my children were this year. Very brief lists with the idea of “mom, you get for me what you think I would like.” They trust me to know them and know what they would like or need. I need to have that kind of attitude toward God for my life. Complete trust that He will give me what I need or would like because He knows me and loves me. He loves me so much that He will not leave me thinking I know better than Him.
Praise God that 2,000 + years ago, Jesus was born to save us. Not like the Jewish people thought their Messiah would rescue them, but something so much better. While they were looking for freedom from the Romans, Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection gave all who believed in Jesus freedom from death. That same belief in Jesus as Savior gives us freedom from death today. The Jews thought the Messiah would overthrow the Roman occupation, setting them free. That is not how God worked for them, and it is not how He works for us. God does not just come in and overthrow our oppressor. He gives us strength, hope, and peace while we journey through this life. The ultimate gift of salvation and eternal life was given to us by the birth of a perfect, sinless baby boy. I pray that I will not look with limited eyes on the gifts from God or think that He has to act in the way I believe He will. I want to embrace each gift with the knowledge that it is what God knows I need for my good and His glory.
As I celebrate another Christmas, I pray I will be filled with the joy and hope that Jesus brought all those years ago. Also, that I will truly treasure the best gift of all; a baby born to give salvation. A gift I did nothing to receive but a gift given out of the gracious love of a Heavenly Father who loves me more than I can imagine. May you also rejoice in this Christmas season and all year long. “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
I wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Peace in the Desert 