Check out my article for the Christian teen devotional, Unlocked!
This month, I had the privilege of writing an article for the inspiring Christian teen devotional and podcast, Unlocked! You can listen on their website, or request a free paper copy of their quarterly devotional.
Check out my article, “Friendship Friction,” which was released yesterday.
I hope it brings encouragement to you!
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.Proverbs 27:9
Do you trust Him when His plans don’t align with yours?
Who can fathom the Spirit* of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?Isaiah 40:13 (NIV)
Let’s be honest here: raise your hand if you’ve ever tried to tell God what to do.
I know my hand is raised. (Well, metaphorically–I’m using both hands to type!)
When we’re experiencing a difficult situation or struggling to reconcile with a frustrating person, it’s easy to go to God in prayer and request that He fix our problems using our methods.
But who are we to instruct God?
Telling God how to solve our problems insinuates that we know better than God, the one who created us, who redeems and restores us, and who is perfect.
Wouldn’t you rather receive the perfect solution of the one who loves you unconditionally and knows everything, than the solution you’ve concocted through limited understanding?
Before I continue, I need to make it clear that God loves hearing from you, broken prayers included. Our earthly prayers will never be perfect because we are all broken people, and that’s okay. The Holy Spirit translates our prayers to our heavenly Father so that He knows what we need.
And even though we will never grasp the fullness of God while on earth–that would literally blow our minds!–there is hope that the longer we walk with Him, the more we may notice God working.
Paul references our intro verse, Isaiah 40:13, in a letter to the church of Corinth:
The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”**But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16
We can have hope that because God’s Spirit dwells in us, we may begin to understand how God works the longer we know Him.
This does not mean we can manipulate Him or guess His every next move. Rather, when we value what God values–which drastically differs from earthly values–we will have peace even when our plans fail because we trust that God’s plans are far better.
But what does trusting God’s plan look like on a day-to-day basis?
It might mean not comparing yourself to a friend who has a higher paying job than you, because you trust that God will meet all your needs.
Or perhaps it means finding joy in your singleness while you wait on God to provide the right person for you, having peace that you are never alone.
Maybe it’s even extending grace to someone who has hurt you because you recognize how much grace you’ve already received through the sacrifice of Jesus for your sins.
Lately, God’s been challenging me to trust Him through my job search process. I crave the security that having another job would provide, but God’s been nudging me to remember that He has and will always meet all my needs. The only job worth pursuing is the one He has called me to pursue…even if it takes experiencing multiple rejections to get there.
How is God calling you to trust Him today?
Remember that God is faithful, even when He might feel far away or situations seem too big for Him to handle. Everything will come together according to His wonderful plans and purposes for us.
In the waiting, God promises His love and peace, which will never fade away. ❤
God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:28-30
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.Isaiah 40:28-31
Footnotes:
*or “mind”
**reference to Isaiah 40:13
All Scripture is in NIV.
Out of His great love, God created us to be in relationship with Him.
Deep down inside each of us, there’s a desire to understand our purpose.
Throughout the years, I’ve often been told that our purpose is to become more like Christ. But as we examine Jesus’ life, it wasn’t particularly pleasurable–at least by earthly standards. After all, His journey reached its climax with His death on the cross. The ultimate form of pain, betrayal, and injustice.
On the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He cried out to God and expressed His distress over His impending suffering. Yet God continued to call Jesus to sacrifice.
[Jesus] withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
Luke 22:41-43 (NIV)
When we are going through suffering, this passage may feel both comforting and alarming. Witnessing God direct Jesus straight into a deadly situation may stir panic in our hearts. Does this mean God wants us to go through pain too?
And as we consider God’s divinity, we may find ourselves wondering, “Why doesn’t God use His power to stop all suffering?”
What if I told you that God is using His power to stop all suffering?
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Revelation 21:3-5 (NIV)
Right now, God is already preparing the way for His new kingdom to come where we will no longer live our fractured existences, marred by brokenness and sin. It is out of His mercy that we are given a chance to repent and develop a relationship with Him while this broken world still exists.
But we don’t have to wait to experience God’s kingdom. When we live according to God’s calling and Jesus’ example, we can shed God’s light and love on even the darkest situations.
So what was God’s purpose in creating us?
Consider God’s original design for the world back in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve didn’t go through pain or suffering, until they allowed sin into the world. Their purpose was to be in relationship with God and tend to the world God created for them.
That is our purpose too.
God still longs for this because He loves us so deeply. He did not create us for suffering. He does not take pleasure in our pain. He cries alongside us. And then, out of His mercy, He redeems our suffering.
For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.Lamentations 3:31-33 (NIV)
If you are struggling to find hope today, remember how Jesus’ earthly journey ended. Not with death, but with new life. God redeemed Jesus’ suffering by using it as a catalyst for us to have relationship with Him again.
God’s ultimate goal is to be in relationship with us. But due to the broken situation of the world, we cannot have a perfect relationship with God–or with anybody–until there is full restoration in Heaven and Earth.
Today, we are called to seek God’s kingdom, setting aside our own aspirations in order to pursue His purposes for us. Often, God places desires in our hearts that we are meant to pursue and other times He leads us in a totally different direction than what we planned.
But through it all, God has a perfect plan for us, cultivated out of His unconditional love. Trust in God’s plan today with the hope that no matter what happens next, God is with you through it all and He will never let go of His precious child. ❤
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.Lamentations 3:19-26 (NIV)
As we are called to let go of former things, let’s embrace God’s hand in the process as He remains faithful through it all.
At the beginning of 2024, my work-in-progress was titled “Don’t Let Go”. And yet the theme of my life in 2024 was “it’s time to let go”.
While my novel’s title was inspired by a scene where my main character dangled on the edge of a cliff before accepting the helping hand that saved her life–and God certainly wasn’t telling me to jump off a cliff or refuse support–I can’t help but laugh at the irony in God’s plan for my growth over the last twelve months.
Letting go of unhealthy relationships, underutilized belongings, and even unrealistic dreams and expectations has always been particularly challenging for me. It’s heartbreaking to admit that it’s time to let go of someone who was once a dear friend or of a dream that isn’t part of God’s plan for this season of life.
Yet we must release what God calls us to release in order to be open handed, ready to embrace what God has in store for us.
You may be finding yourself in a season of needing to let go. Letting go is painful. It’s a loss, after all, and it comes with its own grieving process.
But there is hope. We have someone we must never let go of, our helping hand when we find ourselves dangling at the edge of (hopefully a metaphorical) cliff. That Someone is Jesus.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to trust that Jesus will always be there to save us when we’ve experienced disappointment from others.
But those experiences often remind us to turn to Jesus for our fulfillment. One time, I experienced deep healing after a conversation with a close friend. But in a following interaction, I was reminded of her humanness and felt discouraged, wondering why God would allow me to experience both rich blessing and slivers of pain from the same person.
That’s when the Spirit gently reminded me that it was out of God’s grace that I had experienced healing from this friend. As amazing as she is, it wasn’t her personality or words or even love that blessed me. It was God working through her, showing His love for me.
Though it still hurts when loved ones act insensitively or don’t follow through, perhaps those moments are opportunities to praise God for being the one who loves us perfectly. He does everything with intention and always remains faithful. We will never be asked to let go of Him.
In fact, as I imagine worldly things disappearing from my fingers into the air like dust, I find my hands waiting, palms up, for someone to fill them. And sure enough, God’s great big fatherly hands embrace mine in an instant. He is everything I need. He is everything you need.
As we step into 2025, join with me in God’s call to release what doesn’t belong to us anymore in order to hold tightly to His goodness, grace, and love.
Who knows? When you let go of what isn’t meant for you, God may very well surprise you with wonderful things you didn’t even imagine were possible.
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
Reflecting on 2024 as we anticipate the coming year.
I’ll be honest with you: 2024 has been a rough year.
Globally, division, violence, and injustice seem never ending. Personally, it’s been a year of loss, disappointment, and uncertainty.
But it’s also been a year where I’ve witnessed God’s presence and divine intervention like never before.
My word of the year was imagine. And boy, so many things–both good and bad–have happened this year that I never could’ve imagined. But through it all, God has been faithful. His love never changes, even when our circumstances do.
I’ve often struggled with placing my peace, joy, and hope in my circumstances even though in mere seconds, all that can change. So how can we remain hopeful–even having the faith to imagine brighter days–when life is uncertain?
By rooting our hope in the One who does not change–God.
There are many promises in the Bible that remind us of God’s everlasting qualities. Here are a few from the Psalms that will hopefully bring you hope as we enter a new year:
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.Psalm 90:2 (NIV)
As we go through life, we view things with our limited perception of the world and what could lie ahead. But God, who always was and always will be, has seen it all! Nothing can faze Him. When we take His hand and allow Him to lead us through life, we can walk with more confident strides.
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children–with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.Psalm 103:17-18 (NIV)
When we experience rejection or loss, we may begin to fear that someday others in our lives will leave and/or stop loving us. While we can’t control how others might hurt us, we can find peace knowing that our perfect Father will always love us. And as His children, we can love Him back by following in His ways.
Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.Psalm 119:142 (NIV)
In a world where truth is treated as subjective, it can be overwhelming to read the news or decipher tricky conversations. Sometimes it’s hard to even know what’s real! But thankfully, God’s word is alive and active, always there to guide us and never outdated. We can turn to it for answers, and ask the Spirit to direct our reading of the Bible.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.
Psalm 145:13 (NIV)
As the earth groans and crumbles, as people come and go, and as we desperately search for security, we can have courage knowing that we are part of a kingdom that will last forever. A perfect kingdom without brokenness, pain, or heartbreak. While we may not be able to see this kingdom fully on Earth, we can participate in God’s holy work by blessing others with His love and acting on His truth.
You may be scared of where God is leading you in the coming year, but take heart knowing that He who promised is faithful. God will never let you out of His sight. Converse with Him through every step you take, and soon you may start to see where the path leads.
Our light will never be extinguished when its source is our faithful God, who takes such wonderful care of us.
If you doubt this, call out to God. Express your feelings and fears. Trust that He listens to you, and nothing is out of His control.
No matter what 2025 brings, I pray that we may all experience God’s grace, peace, and love through every season.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
No matter what this Christmas brings, we can find joy in knowing that Jesus intentionally chose the path that draws Him closest to us.
After a difficult day in middle school, I came home and flopped on the couch. My mom wandered over and asked what was wrong. I crossed my arms and turned my back to her.
Nobody understands! I shouted.
Nobody? she mused.
NOBODY!
We often assume our problems are very unique. I thought I was the only one who ever felt left out and unseen in band class, when that certainly wasn’t the case.
Then in high school, I found myself in a similar situation when none of my friends had the same lunch schedule as me. I spent eight months out of that school year sitting alone, feeling like the loneliest person in the world.
And then one day, through divine intervention, I discovered that one of my peers had also spent the school year eating by herself. We’re still friends to this day, bonded by enjoying the last month of lunches together. And we often remorse over how we wish we would’ve reached out to each other sooner.
Because despite previous belief, somebody truly understood!
When we’re experiencing difficulties, we may believe God couldn’t possibly understand what we are going through. But consider this: Jesus intentionally came to earth as a human baby. He allowed Himself to be vulnerable. He didn’t skip the awkward puberty years. He immersed Himself in community, which came with both companionship and rejection.
While Jesus didn’t get ghosted over text or flunk a chemistry class, He experienced the core hardships and heartbreaks we also struggle with.
Bullying? Check.
False accusassions? Affirmative.
Poverty? Yes.
Physical pain? Certainly.
Grief and loss? So deeply.
Rejection? Without a doubt.
Betrayal? Definitely.
Whatever you are experiencing now, Jesus has gone through. But get this: He went through it out of His own free will. He chose to undergo the human experience in order to relate to us because He loves us that much.
Christmastime can be a season of feeling misunderstood, especially if you are wrapping up a difficult year. In fact, all the traditions and decorations–the general fluff and hype of the holiday–feel exhausting in light of personal pain.
Perhaps you don’t feel happy this Christmas, and that’s okay. You have permission to sing a little quieter, to skip the festive parties, and to express your true feelings.
But I pray that you may experience hope and peace in place of the cheaper promises of the season. The true promise, God’s promise, isn’t of temporary comfort or instant gratification.
We can have hope because He promises to be in relationship with us through all seasons, no matter how we feel or what we can offer. We can have peace because Jesus has already conquered sin, so we have nothing to be afraid of.
And you know what? We can even have joy because joy doesn’t depend on our present circumstances. Our joy comes from knowing that Jesus loves us perfectly and that love can never be broken.
Merry Christmas! ❤
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Luke 2:8-15 (NIV)
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV)
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!Philippians 5:5-8
How is our deepest need met through the promise of our Savior?
Deep down, every single one of us longs for unconditional love.
That’s why the sting of rejection or unsatisfying interactions cause us to grieve. When we experience conditional love–when people only show us love when we perform well or please them–we may feel tempted to walk away from relationships altogether.
And while we can strive to love others unconditionally, we will never be able to love perfectly on this side of Heaven. So how can our deepest need be met? How can these two opposing forces be reconciled?
Through Jesus.
But before you roll your eyes at the standard Sunday school answer, bear with me through a few ponderings. As someone who grew up in the church, it’s been ingrained in my brain that only Jesus loves us perfectly because He is God and God is Love.
But what does that really mean? How can this incredible promise come to life for us this season?
Consider these verses with me:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:16-18 (NIV)
What does unconditional love mean?
For God, it meant giving up His very own Son in order to save us and be with us.
Reflect on that for a moment: Through Jesus, God gave up His very self–His very life–in order to demonstrate His love for us.
And the gift doesn’t end there.
Consider this passage with me, titled in my Bible as “Jesus Prays for All Believers”:
“My prayer is not for [my disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
John 17:20-25 (NIV)
Through this passage, we learn that God loves us so much, He wants to be with us all the time. That’s why we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that even after Jesus returned to Heaven, the Spirit resides in us to remind us of God’s love and promises. When we invite the Spirit into our lives, we are guided on the right path, comforted in affliction, and refined in godly character.
This verse in particular really stands out to me:
Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
God loves us as much as He loves Jesus–as much as He loves His very own self.
There is truly no greater sacrifice than to die to yourself so that another may live.
No matter what mistakes you’ve made, what regrets plague your mind, what dreams you wish to pursue–God is offering you the gift of unconditional love.
You don’t have to change before receiving this love. You simply need to open your heart and accept it–and the transformative work that will follow.
Because once you receive Jesus’ love, you won’t want to stay the same. You will want to grow in the fruits of His Spirit, especially in how you love others.
When you fully recognize the unmeasurable gift of Jesus’ love, your heart’s new longing will be to worship Him.
And how do we worship Jesus?
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22:36-39
As we strive to worship Jesus with our whole selves, we must also have grace for the journey.
It’s okay if you mess up. It’s okay that you can’t love others perfectly. But take every opportunity you can to love others–not out of obligation or guilt, but because you are satisfied in Jesus’ perfect love for you.
If you’re struggling to find something to celebrate this Advent season, take a moment to experience the joy that comes in knowing that you, in whatever state you find yourself in today, are fully known and fully loved by the wonderful God who created you.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8
This Advent season, how can we encourage others in a godly way?
I’ll never forget my first high school retreat when my youth pastor brought us into a circle to pray and encourage one another. The earnest words that came out of each teenager’s lips were certainly things we couldn’t have come up with on our own. The pieces of encouragement that resonated most deeply were the ones rooted in God’s word.
Close your eyes and think back to a time when someone’s words really lifted your spirits.
Christmas is a time of encouragement, which we show through appreciative cards and thoughtful gifts. We can even encourage others by taking the time to be with them and offering a hopeful presence.
There are many moments throughout the Bible when people experience or share encouragement, and one of my favorites is found in the Christmas story when Elizabeth and Mary greet each other in Luke 1: 39-45 (NIV).
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Notice that before Elizabeth speaks to Mary, she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Her words were not just her own; they were given to her by God himself.
But how can we encourage others as Elizabeth did?
For starters, before meeting with people, pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance on what to say. When we are open to speaking as God leads, the way we communicate with others will transform beautifully.
Now let’s focus on what the Holy Spirit says through Elizabeth.
Elizabeth begins by blessing Mary (and Jesus!), and then sharing how blessed she is to be with Mary. She expresses her gratitude and joy for their relationship. She finishes by affirming Mary in her calling and faithfulness to the Lord.
It’s easier to compliment others rather than encourage them. Compliments are often focused on superficial things, like a person’s appearance or what they are good at doing.
Encouragement comes from a deeper place because its ultimate goal is blessing others by affirming their God-given identity.
Is there anyone in your life who God is placing on your heart to encourage?
Consider both the people you see regularly, and perhaps others who have been forgotten in the past. It is such a blessing to shine God’s light through blessing others with loving words.
I pray you experience the gift of encouragement in your life this Advent season and beyond. ❤
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)
And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.Psalm 12:6 (NIV)
What if silence is meant to draw us closer to God?
Silent Night is one of my favorite Christmas hymns, perhaps because it’s usually accompanied by the warm glow of candlelight at the end of the Christmas Eve service.
But I don’t often attribute silence to Christmas. Christmas is a jolly, bubbly time filled with festive gatherings, shopping rampages, boisterous carols, and bouncing off the walls from one too many buckeye balls!
The word “silence” often comes with the connotation of loneliness, disappointment, and grief. Sometimes, it’s even used as punishment. (Were you the type of kid who was told,”Go sit in the corner until you are ready to say sorry!”?) 😉
But what if silence is a gift? A gift of love, even? A gift of love from our heavenly Father?
Consider this portion of the Christmas story with me, taken from the gospel of Luke:
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
– Luke 1: 1-9, 11-20 (NIV)
Imagine being told that your dream of becoming a parent was finally going to be fulfilled in a very miraculous way–only, you can’t audibly tell anyone, not even your spouse!
At first, God seems pretty harsh for silencing Zechariah after he asks a reasonable question. Especially when you consider Mary’s interaction with Gabriel in the following chapter:
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
– Luke 1: 26b-38 (NIV)
Both Mary and Zechariah respond similarly to Gabriel’s messages to them. They express shock and fear, though they listen to his message before asking a logical follow-up question.
So why was Mary encouraged by Gabriel while Zechariah was reprimanded?
The Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us why, but there are a number of reasonable guesses. God knew Mary would have to overcome more obstacles by becoming Jesus’ mother than Zechariah would by becoming John the Baptist’s father, particularly due to how she would be ridiculed as a pregnant unmarried woman. Perhaps this was an act of God’s grace.
But I suspect something even deeper.
God knows each of our hearts. Maybe He knew that Mary trusted Him even as she questioned how His will would be done, while Zechariah needed more of an opportunity to grow in his faith.
But does this mean God loved Mary more than Zechariah? Absolutely not.
Being the perfect Father, God loves each of His children equally. Out of His love, He uses unique approaches based on our God-given individuality to help us grow to become the people He created us to be.
While spending nine months in silence would’ve been challenging, it offered Zechariah the chance to focus on his relationship with God. After all, God was the only one who could hear him during that time.
There are many benefits to stepping back from the chaos of this season and taking a moment to be quiet with God. It allows you to:
Sometimes we choose to embrace the quiet, but other times we are sent to the silent places. God is moving even when it seems like everything is still and stagnant around us. And He is with us even when we feel utterly alone.
The best part about being alone with God is experiencing His comfort. There have been many times in my life when I’ve felt incredibly lonely, and while I am thankful that those seasons didn’t last forever, I can’t recall another time when Jesus felt nearer.
We can trust that God knows what’s best for us because even in our hardest, darkest, loneliest seasons, He still offers us the gift of hope.
I pray that if you are in a season of quiet, you can accept what Jesus is teaching you while also trusting that this season won’t last forever. If you are feeling burned out or distracted by external things, consider intentionally taking the time to be quiet and reflect on the beautiful gift of Jesus’ love. ❤
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
– Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
Appreciating Christmas requires belief in the supernatural power of God.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year. The colorful lights, the uplifting music, the excuse to give loved ones presents and handwritten cards. There’s just something that feels magical about the holiday.
As Christians, it may feel sacrilegious to call anything in the natural world “magical” because of the connotations surrounding the term “magic”. If you do a quick Google search, magic is defined as “the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.”
Without getting into the darker definitions of magic, by this definition alone, I do believe Christmas has magical elements to it. Though they are far deeper, and more incredible, than the secular ideas of the magic of the season.
While I don’t believe there are flying reindeer or jolly elves delivering presents, there is definitely a supernaturalness to the true meaning of Christmas. Only as Christians, we can replace the word “magic” with the word “miracle”.
The difference between magic and miracles is that miracles require intention and care, whereas there’s a sense of spontaneity and luck associated with magic. More importantly, God is the one who orchestrates miracles and the only one with the power to make them happen. Only He is worthy of our praise.
God had been planning to send His son to save us since the beginning of the world, even foreshadowing this promise throughout history. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He fulfilled each of the descriptions of the promised Savior from the Old Testament. This certainly required much forethought!
However, I don’t think it’s wrong to appreciate the magical feeling of Christmas. In fact, I’m not sure if we can really understand the true meaning of Christmas until we believe in the supernaturalness of it.
Let’s read through Matthew’s depiction of the Christmas story together:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
~ Matthew 1:18-25
Now go back and take note of all the unnatural happenings within this story. Here are a few I noticed:
Christmas feels magical because it requires a belief in the supernatural, especially for Christians!
If you think believing an elderly man and his elves spend the year creating presents in the North Pole in order to deliver them all in one night is unrealistic, consider what we believe! The almighty God came down from Heaven in human flesh through an unnatural birth because He desired to be with us, His lowly creation.
Not only that, but from the moment God created this plan, He knew that He was sending His Son with a death wish. Jesus’ ultimate purpose was to die for our sins (and thankfully come back to life!) in order to break the barrier between God and man forever.
There is no greater Christmas miracle than Jesus.
What a gift it is to serve a God who loves us so wonderfully! His love is truly beyond human comprehension.
And that is what we must celebrate this season–and all year round. When we accept Jesus’ love for us, we will notice more clearly when we are being called to share that love with others. Christmas is an excellent excuse to be generous and caring to those in our lives, and share with them the good news of Jesus’ great love.
This Advent season, I encourage you to take a moment to rest and reflect on the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Allow yourself to pause long enough to be filled with awe for all God’s done to be with us–to be with you. ❤
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
– 1 John 4:9
The Will to Wake Up 