Luke 2:12
“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
I’ve spent the last few days wrestling with emotions and frustrations. One’s I know all too well at this point in the world-wide pandemic chaos. I sometimes get all wound up over the limitations and fear and unknown of it all and it seems to set me back. Whatever Christmas cheer was bubbling in my heart earlier is squashed, whatever joy of Jesus was welling up in me is clouded by disappointment.
We all find ourselves in that place. We all start to refer to this Christmas as the COVID Christmas. We slap a big fat sticker of disappointment on the front of this year’s Christmas and then wallow in it.
Well, today I felt the Holy Spirit gently remind me of Jesus, a babe, lying in a manger. The savior of humanity, a fragile infant, given as a gift for you and me. I was overcome with this insane sense of peace and joy in the thought of Jesus as a sweet small child. How beautiful is that the God of the universe humbling himself to come endure life on this earth and death on a rugged cross for you and me?
It far outweighs the bummers bestowed on us form 2020. It’s much more significant. It covers our disappointments with a blanket of grace and peace. Let’s focus on that for the remainder of the season.