I have a firm personal policy — the Christmas season does not begin until after Thanksgiving. Furthermore, this is a floating timeframe. Some years it’s Black Friday (is this an official holiday yet?). In other years, the Christmas season begins on the first day of December. Sometimes it has been just a couple of weeks before Christmas.
I admit, my Christmas season rule is completely based on feeling. This year the feeling hit me Monday morning driving home from the airport. I turned the radio to the Christmas station, and it felt right.
So, welcome to my Christmas season.
Since it’s now officially Christmas, in the next few weeks I will share a few Advent devotions. I’m new to the tradition of Advent, so it took me a while to understand Advent isn’t specifically about the Mary, Joseph, and Shepherd story.
Advent is about preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus. This technically means as followers of Jesus, we celebrate Advent day in and day out throughout the year. We should be constantly preparing our hearts for Jesus. But it is the celebration of his birth when we remember not just that he came as a baby, but he will someday return as a King.
Believing Without Seeing
A little over ten years ago, Kia and I moved to the suburbs of Kansas City from about 30 minutes south of the city. We were called by God to work with a friend as he took the lead pastor role in our home church. This was a huge change for our family. Our kids changed schools, Kia started a new business, we sold our home, and we headed out on a new adventure.
That’s how I saw it then, but looking back it wasn’t so simple.
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a wonderful collection of stories of faith and is referred to as the Hall of Faith. The author celebrates Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, and others as they walked through their lives, not perfect, but with a deep faith in God.
When writing about Abraham, the author says:
“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” -Hebrews 11:8 (NLT)
When I recently read this verse, I was reminded of our move to Kanas City. The truth was we sold our house without a home to move to. We packed and moved to a rental home, trusting God would provide the perfect home for us (even though we’d already been searching for months). It was an adventure living in a small home — so small, that our youngest lived in a large closet. Was it fun? Not really.
When God calls, it tends to be toward the unknown.
It was true for Abraham. It was true for Mary and Joseph.
Mary and Joseph were full of unanswered questions. How could a virgin girl become pregnant? Would Joseph stick by Mary’s side? Where could this little family turn when put in danger?
There were more questions than answers for this young couple. The same was true for Abraham when God called him to wander the countryside with nothing more than a grand promise. With this in mind, here are three things to keep in mind when God calls you to unfamiliar places -- with nothing more than blind faith.
Immanuel: God with us
God calls us into the unknown, but he doesn’t send us alone. God himself goes with us. This was the promise from Isaiah when he prophesied of the virgin birth:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)
The name Immanuel means, God with us, and Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. Jesus himself promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, another form of God with us.
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” -John 14:15-17 (NLT)
God was with Abraham as he traveled with his family through unfamiliar lands. God was with Mary as she carried the son of God. God was with Joseph when he fled with his small family to Egypt. God was with Kia and me as we waited and searched for our permanent home.
God is with you in the unknown places too.
Miracles are what God does
When you walk into a situation with blind faith, you open yourself to the possibility of a miracle. To be clear, God acting on your behalf is a miracle. Miracles are what a loving God does.
“Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.” -Psalms 136:4 (NLT)
When God gave Abraham (100 years old) and Sarah (90 years old) a son, it was a miracle. When the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, it was a miracle. When God woke Joseph up in the middle of the night to send him to Egypt, it was a miracle. When God provided the perfect home for my family, it was a miracle.
My miracle didn’t look as grand as the miracles in Abraham, Mary, or Joesph’s lives, but it was a miracle nonetheless.
I know it was a miracle because God was showing his love for me by providing a home. This may sound strange, but God’s love for us is a miracle. He is faithful…always.
Remember God’s miracles
Residing in a small rental home is not life-threatening or even being in a strange, foreign land. It was uncomfortable, and God regularly calls us to uncomfortable places. What uncomfortable places has God called you?
I ask because remembering those places is important. You must recognize God’s miracle on your behalf because later it serves your faith well. When I think back to that year of living in the unknown, I remember how God provided. I don’t just remember the difficulty of living out of boxes for a year, but how God directed us to the perfect home at the end of that year.
God provided for our family.
When I remember how God provided then, I am encouraged God will provide the next time I am called into the unknown. That is why the author of Hebrews writes an entire chapter filled with the stories of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. It reminds us that when we put our faith in God, he will provide. The writer wraps up these thoughts with this passage or exhortation:
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! -Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)
Go over that story again…then travel on into unknown places. God is with you. Remember he came through before. He will do miracles again.
Writing + Advent Playlist
I don’t know if we have the same taste in music, but here are some songs to explore. All the links go to Spotify. While writing this post, this is some of what I was listening to:
Mary Did you Know? - Maverick City Music
All Hail King Jesus - Jeremy Riddle
Nao Ao Marco Temporal - Esperanza Spalding