Relentlessly dismal news hangs over us like thick grey skies,
predicting gloomy days ahead. From bomb ravaging Aleppo, to friends’ struggle
with cancer, tragic fires, plane crashes, terror and corruption, one might wonder
about the Christmas greeting:
Emmanuel - God with us.
God with us?
The question pleads, “Really?
Where?”
I’ve been tempted to ask this since returning from Kenya.
Our first Christmas home in 5 years but hard realities of living in a
developing nation return to haunt me… broken children crawling, limping, hoping
for a smile. HIV positive mamas, orphaned babies, millions of abandoned,
neglected, forgotten... God with us?
I cry at the loss while colorful lights
twinkle.
Where is He? The Savior heralded by an angel to lowly shepherds so long
ago:
“Don’t
be afraid! I bring good news of great joy to all people.”
“God is with you.” The voice resonates in my heart.
I’m reminded of a recent prayer time when an acquaintance
assured me with confidence, “God wants
you to know He is with you.” Or the stranger at the mall on Black Friday
who took a risk by walking over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder and
confessing, albeit uncomfortably, “I’m
supposed to tell you God is near. He’s with you.”
These reminders shake my core. I recognize the mistake of
missing this truth. Instead of welcoming God in the midst of misery and
believing He restores all in His time, I expected God to follow my plan to
right the wrongs. I forgot; there is an enemy named evil. Sadly, God get blamed
for all its ugly turmoil. God also becomes guilty of mankind’s depravities –
choices to inflict wickedness that spreads like a pandemic. The consequences ruin
even innocence. Maybe God hates evil because its wounds infect us - His beloved.
Our Creator’s great love keeps us
from being utterly consumed. He came as a babe who grew to a man. He felt tired, hungry and thirsty. He wept,
groaned and experienced agony. His pure
devotion, uncontaminated by evil, sacrificed to win our freedom from depravity. He willingly took the reproach forced on Him
to remain with us forever.
God
came to live with us.
He’s
still here.
God wants to reach the desperate in Syria, He longs to
rescue the lost from dirty streets, hold the overlooked, and find the broken
hidden in far-away hovels. He desires to feed the hungry, to satisfy thirsty
souls, to comfort those who suffer and soothe their aches with healing balms.
How does God do that when the earth itself moans from the
weight of inhumanity?
God lives in the hearts of those who ask Him. And from those
hearts, He touches others with mercy. His truth-bonded grace carries redemption
far beyond the temporal. I see it when
volunteers work with refugees and when our church shares food boxes with needy
families. I read about it in a woman’s post thanking the community for their
care during her grief and in beautiful letters from missionaries serving in
desolate places. I receive it when helpful hands surround me, reminding me…
God
is with you.
As you scan the horrible headlines or live in unnamed sorrow,
please know Hope shines even when foggy confusion hovers. Believe the words of
the angels spoken long ago –
“Don’t be afraid… there is good news
that brings great joy…
Emmanuel, God with us.”
