As we close in on Christmas Eve, I thought I’d re-share this post from last year. It’s a simple message, but one that’s easy to forget. Merry Christmas, friends!
One of my favorite books growing up was The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Early in the story, one of the main characters, Lucy, finds herself in a magical, snow-covered land. The first creature she meets there is Mr. Tumnus who is half man, half faun. Though she is taken back by his appearance, he is very kind and they soon become friends.
Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy that she is in Narnia. The reason it is so cold there, he explains, is because a witch has cast a spell causing it to always be winter but never Christmas. And, as we all know, Christmas is the best part of winter.
Can you imagine forever being stuck in January?
No Christmas, no Super Bowl, and no spring. Only, if you’ve ever gone through a long, tough season in life, I believe you can imagine it. Emotionally, you have lived it. Perhaps, you are even in that season right now.
You have been waiting for change, praying for something or someone, or working to altar your circumstances to no avail. Nothing is happening, and you live under the weight of illness, longing, or discouragement. Maybe, like we talked about last week, you feel God has given you a gigantic NO. Or, that He doesn’t care at all.
Waiting has a way of making us feel like God isn’t paying attention.
Especially at Christmas, as we watch all our friends and family post smiling photo’s in front of the tree. In this month, there seems to be a greater awareness of the division between those who seem to have all they could ask for—and those of us who feel so far from where we want to be. Only if we focus too long on this seeming disparity, we are in danger of missing out on the fact that Christmas is more for those who are waiting, than for those who aren’t.
Christmas is more for those who are waiting, than for those who aren’t.
Christmas is not just a story about a baby born in a manger. It is the story of an entire nation waiting for God to fulfill a promise He gave to them over four hundred years earlier. Because during this season our focus is always on the baby—the long desired outcome—we lose sight of all those years Israel waited.
A few years ago, I heard a speaker talk about another story in the Bible. The one about three men who disobeyed a king. Their crime? They did not bow to a statue when they were told to, because they would not bow for anyone but God. Their punishment? To be burned to death. But God showed up and rescued them in the middle of the fire.*
This is true for all the great stories we read in the Bible. None of the people in them knew the ending of their story—and you don’t either.
As this speaker told us about these men, she talked about how for us reading their story, we find out about their rescue in a matter of paragraphs. Only for these three men, they had no idea if or how God would rescue them. This is true for all the great stories we read in the Bible. None of the people in them knew the ending of their story—and you don’t either.
Your story is not finished.
But what the stories of those three men, other people in the Bible, and the story of Jesus’ birth tell us, is that He always comes. God always shows up. Yes, it may not be when we wanted, how we expected, or the way we prayed for—but He always comes.
Later in The Lion The Witch And the Wardrobe, Lucy and her siblings are told the only hope Narnia has for ever experiencing Christmas again, is a powerful lion named Aslan. The creatures explain they have been waiting for him to come for a long time, but now they have finally been told “He’s on the move.”
God always shows up. Yes, it may not be when we wanted, how we expected, or the way we prayed for—but He always comes.
Friends, I don’t know what you’re waiting for in this season. But when all of this season’s cheer reminds you of what you’re longing for—remember, the story of Christmas is that He always comes. And before you know it, He will be on the move for you.
Do you believe He always comes?
Do you believe He is going to come for you?
*For the full story of these three men see Daniel chapter three.
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