How do we make sense of it all? And especially at Christmas time. December: A month filled with lights, laughter, yummy things to eat and sweet surprises wrapped up in merry-colored paper; Yet, once again at the close of another year shock waves erupt through communities, family disputes, dangers, disappointments, breakups, and disease ever present. Certainly, God intends such earth-shattering difficulties to raise His people from their slumber; To remind us of the only real reason for the season!  

Recently on social media, a post was shared asking for prayer for the family of a 1^st grader who passed away after a year and a half long battle with a brain tumor. Reading further, I realized his grandparents were former parishioners from one of our pastorates. My heart broke for them and their son and his family. And for many the pain is heightened so close to Christmas! It is hard to make sense of it. Even in countries where Christians are martyred at a higher rate around Christmastime, we struggle to comprehend.

And the fact of the matter is, when a crisis occurs oftentimes, we run to the well of this world to find answers or we center our thoughts completely on the calamity and thus, we never find peace. We lose our footing and the mirror’s reflection becomes more of a puzzling muddle, fractured by grief.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely,” 1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT.

God knows what we do not. He is THE infinite decoder, The ONE Who provides the ultimate foundation for standing firm when our legs are so wabbly.

This is why it is so important to already have a foundation built on THE ONE who knows Everything, not only KNOWS BUT is Sovereign overall! When tragedy occurs, you know His well won’t run dry, and you know where to place your doubts and trust His decoder!

Listen to these beautiful revelations, these beautiful reminders of God’s plan that He orchestrated from the beginning. The exact place our faith and trust should rest.

The following is an excerpt from Emmanuel by Stephen Davey.

“God was orchestrating everything to fulfill His sovereign will and His eternal Word. The Word of God had prophesied that:

• The Redeemer would be a human being – Genesis 3:15.
• The Savior would be a Jew, not a Gentile – Genesis 12:1-3.
• The Savior would come from the tribe of Judah – Genesis 49:10.
• The Messiah would be a descendant of David – II Samuel 7:1-17.
• The Messiah would be born of a virgin – Isaiah 7:14.
• The Redeemer would be crucified and His clothing divided among the soldiers – Psalm 22.
• The Savior of the world would be born in the town of Bethlehem – Micah 5:2.

Micah prophesied that the Savior would be born in the town of Bethlehem hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.

                But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)

It might look like Ceasar was calling the shots. It might look like Mary and Joseph were helpless pawns who were caught in the movements of world history. In reality, however, every move was perfectly timed and directed by the hand of God.

                And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. (Luke 2:3-5)

The name “Bethlehem” literally means, “the house of bread”. In John, Jesus is called “the bread of life”. (John 6:35) Can you imagine a better town for “the bread of life” to be born than a town which has a name that means “the house of bread”?

… [on the way to] Bethlehem was the same town where the patriarch Jacob buried his wife Rachel, after she died in childbirth. And, the fields that Mary and Joseph passed by were the same fields where Ruth had once gathered wheat, until she was noticed by Boaz. This is the same little village where a shepherd boy, named David, tended the family sheep, before he was chosen to be the next king of Israel.

These were the relatives of Joseph and Mary. Had there been a throne in Jerusalem; had there been a king and queen in the land of Israel, it would have been Joseph and Mary. They were the descendants of both lines – from David through Solomon and from David through Nathan. Joseph and Mary were the rightful successors to the throne.

This lineage means that the son of Joseph and Mary would be the rightful prince of David! However, the world did not even notice. It was enraptured with the significance of mighty Rome, not the insignificance of little Bethlehem.

Why did [Jesus] give up His royal rights? Why did He give all of His privileges away? So that He could give us the greatest privilege of all.

                But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

Jesus is Emmanuel! [He] became “God with us,” so that we, one day, could be with God. Though He was rich, He became totally impoverished, so that, through His poverty, we might become rich.”

A fateful spectacle of our world, clearly demonstrated on a regular basis, is a waste of time and money making much of ourselves; we feel a crown should be upon our heads and adoration flowing from the lips of our spectators. Instead of living from an impoverished mindset like Jesus, we fight for a place in the palace, a place to shine our glory.

Regularly observing, meditating on, and obeying Scripture will keep our thoughts focused on Jesus and set us on the right path producing peace and joy God’s children have been promised!

One of my favorite passages is Philippians 2:3-8, (NASB):

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

This is the “why” at Christmastime!