His Birth

Luke 2 has a beautiful passage about the Savior's birth.  I love the declaration that the angel made to the Shepherds about his birth--"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,which is Christ the Lord."  As I read it, I tried to imagine their reaction before I continued reading.  It made me ponder about the significance of the event.  These shepherds had so much faith.  They believed the angel.  They believed that the baby, the small infant lying in a manger, was their Savior.  They believed that he could perform the most incredible work ever in the history of the world.  I'm not sure that I would have been humble enough to believe the angel, and then to go and seek the child to offer him worship.  

What did this message mean for them?  I really don't know.  What would it have meant for me?  If this were to be the first time hearing about a Savior, would I have comprehended it all?  No.  But, I think I would have gained a hope in his promised power.  

Sometimes there are temptations in life that are too much for me to bare.  Sometimes there are situations that I have no clue what to do, and I don't believe that anyone else knows either.  A lot of times I've felt alone in my problems, alone in my trials, alone in my faith... like nobody understood what I saw, how I felt.  As a simple, carnal, human being, how are we supposed to deal with those things?  Go to sleep, maybe I'll forget about my trials.  Maybe if I go work out, they'll go away.  Maybe if I just give in the struggle will go away everything.

I've tried lots of things.  They are all temporary fixes.  That's sad.  That means life is just something to endure, to try to forget about, to try to put up with, to give control up to.  

This feeling is darkness.  This feeling is sad.  This feeling is hopelessness.  In these times, I have had nowhere to turn, but to my faith in a Being I have never seen.  In those moments of hope and faith, I have found relief.  I have found peace.  I have found strength, courage, a solution, patience... many unique answers and bits of guidance to make it through.  These have shed light in the darkness, when I had given up.

This light is made possible only through the Savior, who started out as an infant--completely mortally dependent on two faithful parents.  He grew to be our Savior as he realized his mission on earth and suffered for my sins, my afflictions, my darkness, my loneliness, my carelessness, my weakness.

God be praised.  Glory to God on high.  I know that my Redeemer lives.  I know he was born to save us and that he continues to fulfill his foreordained mission as Savior of the world, for me on a daily basis as I let him.  How wonderful it is to see the world in celebration and remembrance of his life, the gift of the Father to us his beloved children!  Today is when we recognize the birth of Jesus.  

This is joy.

He is the reason.