A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"God With Us"
It was a couple days prior to Christmas. I was driving along the highway listening to the Christmas music the local Christian radio station was playing. In between every couple of songs they would either read a portion of the Infant Narrative in Luke or one of the radio personalities would tell about one of their “most memorable Christmases.” After the fourth or fifth memory I noted that they all shared memories that included a special gift they had received or the tradition of how their family went about opening their gifts on Christmas morning. I was intrigued by this. Not that it was so surprising, or that I would have liked to hear something about how they honored or worshipped Jesus on Christmas Day. Rather my intrigued stemmed more from my own introspection that their sharing stimulated.

Did I have a favorite Christmas memory? I thoughtfully searched memory but had great difficulty coming up with a favorite. I discovered that the memories that seem most dear to me were not what I or others might expect. The memories that rose to the top of the list included the Christmas we lost a child through a miscarriage a couple of weeks before Christmas only to have doctors call my wife back into the hospital Christmas week for exploratory surgery to be sure she did not have an eptopic pregnancy. She came out of the hospital the day before Christmas Eve. That same Christmas our two year old daughter ended up getting a good case of the flu and wasn’t much into this Christmas gift thing.

The following Christmas our second daughter arrived on the eighteenth of December, but was late requiring a cesarean delivery. Due to some medical complications for both my wife and our newborn they remained in the hospital for seven days, coming home late afternoon Christmas Eve. Our oldest was more into Christmas this year, but mom and sister rested on the sofa as she torn into her gifts.

The next year we made our way to the hospital following the Christmas Eve service. It was the second time in a month at the hospital for our younger daughter’s breathing problem. This time it was pneumonia. My oldest, cradled in my arms sound asleep, and I left the hospital very early Christmas morning leaving mom and sister in the hospital.

Another memory that came to the forefront was the year we made our way to Florida to spend Christmas with my aging parents. A significant part of the reason for going was to help console my father who several months prior had to place mom, his wife of 57 years, into an assisted living Alzheimer’s unit. It was exceedingly difficult for him. He wanted to be able to care for her but with his own heart problems it was simply impossible. Mom was able to join us for Christmas Day at my sister’s nearby home. We were just under half way home driving along Interstate 95 on the 29th of December when the cell phone rang. It was my sister letting me know that dad had a stroke and had to be hospitalized. Things did not look good. We decided to complete the trip home and on January 1st I received the call that dad went home to be with Jesus.

Having these memories come to mind while thinking about favorite Christmas memories caught me by surprise. As I contemplated the whys of these memories rising to the top God drew especially close to me. I prayerfully ask Him to direct my thoughts, to teach me. Could it be that these memories rose to the top because they most reflect what Christmas is all about? Might it be that the Holy Spirit prompted these memories to remind me that it was on these Christmases I experienced Christmas in a much more profound way?

Scripture tells us that Christ came in the “fullness of time.” (Galatians 4:4) He comes to us in our helplessness, our desperate state, our confusion, our night. He is “Immanuel,” God with us. (Matthew 1:23)  Though there is abundant truth to be gleaned from the profound phrase “in the fullness of time,” it surely includes coming at just the right time. (See also Romans 5:6) He is present with us all the time, but how precious it is that He is Immanuel in our desperate helpless dark times. Is this not what Christmas is all about? There was no fanfare, no worldwide celebration. God in Christ came quietly into the world bringing hope, salvation, peace, light…” On each of these memorable Christmases Jesus came to me and my family, quietly gracing us, granting peace, giving hope, strengthening and blessing us.

It was on the Christmas when we had lost the child that we started the family tradition of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and praying the very first thing on Christmas Day. We want to be sure that we worship Jesus who is Christ the Lord, Immanuel.

Beloved let us join together in the hard work of truly celebrating Christmas and being sure we are worshipping God Who came and continues to come, to us.

Keep Close to Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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