Emmanuel Day 1
Emmanuel, God with us
What comes into your mind as you hear the phrase, “Christmas is coming?” Some might think of festive decorations, family gatherings, or fun shopping days, filled with Christmas music and finding the perfect gifts. Maybe you’re excited to make and eat all of your favorite foods, or to drive by gorgeous, shining Christmas lights that light up the sky on chilly nights. Hopefully, foremost in all of our hearts, are feelings of awe and amazement over the Christmas truth; that God would come to this earth as a Baby with the ultimate purpose of bringing salvation to us all.
But I think oftentimes, for most of us, sprinkled within all the excitement over the Christmas season, can also be feelings of sorrow, sadness, loss, and loneliness. The holiday season can feel like one of the most difficult seasons to walk through. When our hearts are already aching over regular life, there’s just something about the holidays that can cause us to feel those aches in an even deeper way. James 1:2 reminds us that, in life, we will encounter “various trials.” The details of our lives are different, yet still the common thread is that each one of us has a “various trial” that makes our heart ache, and the holiday season has a way of magnifying those hurts.
“Various trial” heartaches can come in this season from feeling as though we no longer have a place, never had a place, or from feeling misplaced, displaced, lonely, or left out. Maybe your “various trial” comes in the form of aching over lost loved ones, or love that has been lost from the ones that we still love. Those “various trial” aches can spring up before, during, and after stressful family gatherings, or from that person who always or never… (fill in a thousand blanks). Inner heart aches can come from outwardly hurting bodies, thinning budgets, and feelings of an inability to measure up to the expectations that others place upon us, or even the ones that we place upon ourselves. Everyone experiences aching hearts to varying degrees at some point throughout this season, but before you stop reading because I’ve now become the depressing one causing your heart to ache…
I want to turn our aching hearts and attention to the beautiful title that God gives to Himself
specifically in this season that we’re celebrating right now.
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,
God with us.”
Matthew 1:23 (KJV)
It was as the birth of Jesus was approaching that God reminded Joseph and revealed to us through the words of the prophet Isaiah, that “God with us” was coming to be with us. The truth of this season is that God desires to be with us, and it’s on my heart to remind us of that truth here every day so that the foremost thought in our minds this holiday season is that GOD IS WITH US!
Statistically, loneliness and aching hearts are on the rise. As I write this, 61% of Americans report frequent feelings of loneliness. 71% of avid social media users report feeling lonely. The APA poll states that one in three Americans feel lonely at least once a week.
I guess what those statistics are saying to us is that if you’re lonely, you can know that you’re not alone in your loneliness. So, what can we do with all of these lonely aches within our own hearts? And how can we help others in pain feel the joy, peace, and hope of the Christmas season when we have a hard time finding those feelings ourselves?
Emmanuel [Messiah: Greek Emmanouēl, from Hebrew ʽimmānūʼēl,
literally, with us is God]
The answer to all we seek, desire, and ache for is found in Emmanuel, the God who…
“made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:7-8
Precious friend, the truth of the matter, is that you have One who is so desperately in love with you that He literally left the comforts of heaven to take on a humble earthly body for you, and ultimately died so that He could be with you forever. Maybe those aches we feel deeply in the Christmas season are intended to be a reminder that the One we truly ache for is the One who truly ached for us. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to fully grasp or understand how deeply we are loved by this God who laid everything aside just to be with us, but don’t you want to try with me to meditate on this truth every day and let it affect and change us from the inside out?
I’m praying that as we take just a little bit of time each day this Christmas season, to turn our attention to the One who has His attention fully upon us, that some of those aching places will be met by His glorious presence. Today, as we begin, try to intentionally remember that you are not alone even for a second. Write this truth down somewhere you can see it often today. You are seen, heard, understood, and perfectly loved by the God who left heaven on a rescue mission for you. Emmanuel, who is with you right now, brought His presence to earth so He could forever bring His presence to your heart and meet every aching need that you would ever have.
Emmanuel; with us IS GOD.