“But will God really dwell on earth with men?” I trace under the verse with finger and chuckle a little before grabbing a pencil and writing in the margin, “Yes, His name is Jesus!” Solomon, the very own son of King David couldn’t imagine how a God so great could fit into a temple so small. “The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” 2 Chronicles 6:18 Here we are again at the mercy of another December’s unpredictable mood; cold and snow then rain and mud. The sky stays a consistent foggy gray, exposing only the outlines of black tree branches, pointy and upward stretching. Kind of like our hearts at Christmas time. All of us looking up, stretching upward toward the idea of Jesus born in a stable so many years ago. Whether we believe it or not, it’s a choice we must make every December to either grab hold of that crazy truth, or let the babe in the manger slip through our gift-wrapping fingers. To believe in what we cannot see but know with all our strength it was real, and is real, God with us. And the truth is, these days are the hard days, the at the end of your rope days, the hanging by a thread days. And what we all really need, is to be tying our threads and ropes and final straws to Him who chose to fit small into our world so that we could live big into our faith! If we’d only take that rope-end and hanging thread and find the truth about Christmas to tie it to, our tether would be straight to The Father’s heart. So when you’re pressed with the same question as King Solomon, could God REALLY dwell on earth with men? The answer is Yes. And as wild a thought as that might be to you today, it’s the most valuable gift you’ll unwrap this Christmas. The one that will keep you for all the Decembers beyond, and hold you close to the heart of a baby brimming with God-power.
And I know it’s hard, don’t think I don’t understand. This season burns the heat into our chimneys and hardships into our beat-up and beat-ING hearts. Our bodies are spent and our accounts are spending all month long as we reach up to that misty horizon for a glimpse of Him, a sign that everything will be okay. Will we make it through? His promise is true to remain the God-with-us-God. He has not changed since sending His son and He does not regret doing so even now. For He is the sending God - sending flood and pestilence, manna and quail, angels and fire, prophets and messages, but it wasn’t until he SENT His son that the sending stopped! Because that’s all that was left to be delivered, a tiny baby held by loving hands and aching hearts. So, light the candle, and then the next, let advent become quieter than you’d prefer, succumb to the settling, make way for the Maker of Ways and know He celebrates with us, God with us.
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Author"My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass." Psalm 102:11 Archives
March 2024
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