All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). (Is 7:14 NLT)
The church has wrestled with how to understand this reality since its inception: God in the flesh! The longer one thinks about it, the more wondrous the implications that emerge. But here I want to focus on just one implication. God gets you!
Let that sink in for a moment, what you experience, what you fear, what you question, and even what you face in the limitations of sickness, abuse, abandonment, love, acceptance, joy, sadness, depression, exultation, loneliness, and longing. God gets you!
I find great hope and encouragement in the reality that I pour out my soul to God, who not only comprehends my situation and emotions but also feels them.
I don’t know if your holiday is one of jubilation or despair, joy or depression, contentment or fear. But whatever your holiday situation, you have an invitation to the love of God, not abstract or distant but real and touchable. I pray your Christmas includes the discovery of just how deeply you are loved by the God who gets you.
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Lk 2:11-14 NLT)