In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Kevin is preaching about some of the reasons Jesus was born. This morning's sermon examined how Jesus was born to die. Jesus knew as he taught, healed, prayed and lived that his earthly ministry would culminate in the most brutal of ends, on a cross. But that would not be the ultimate end - his death and resurrection purchased our salvation. Kevin encouraged us to remember what Jesus went through and accomplished on the cross and in his resurrection. He also encouraged us to reflect on our own life's purpose - on the moments God has given and will give us to make a difference for His kingdom.
I have reflected a lot on the past year - maybe because I just finished our family's Christmas letter. What a year this has been! Major life changes, a diagnosis, and a new life being knit together in me as I sit here and type. It has been heart-wrenching, exhilarating, faith-building. I can't say that I've synthesized and settled the meaning of it all yet, if I ever will fully. One step at a time.
I was encouraged this week by a letter from Desiring God executive director Jon Bloom, who wrote:
The Holy Family's first few years were not tranquil. They were filled with grueling travel during the hardest part of pregnancy, a birth in worse than a barn, no steady income, an assassination attempt, two desert crossings on foot with an infant, living in a foreign country, waiting on God for guidance and provisions just in the nick of time. It was difficult, expensive, time-consuming, career-delaying and full of uncertainty.
And it was God's will.
The unplanned, inefficient detours of our lives are planned by God. They are common for disciples, and they commonly don't make sense in the moment. But God's ways are not our ways because our lives are about him, not about us. He is orchestrating far more than we know in every unexpected event and delay.
So when you find yourself suddenly moving in a direction you had not planned, take heart, hold tight, and trust God's navigation.
May you take heart, hold tight, and trust this Christmas season.
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