Expect a Miracle

It’s a message that is hard to avoid. It seems to be everywhere. Billboards, catalogs, and commercial after commercial on television all promise a better life for you, your spouse, your children, your family, your friends, your coworkers; if you will just give the gift they are offering. Sometimes it’s a new toy. Other times it’s a piece of jewelry. You will even see new cars with red bows parked in some driveway before December is done.

It is tempting to believe this siren’s song: the secret to filling the life of those I love with peace, love and joy can be charged to my credit card. The people in the pictures look so happy. Maybe this is the gadget or game or gem that will make this the Christmas they will always remember.

It is essential that you resist this message if you want to experience a different kind of Christmas. When you focus only on those gifts that come in brightly wrapped packages adorned with ribbons and bows, you risk the danger of failing to recognize the good gifts you have already received . . . and the even better gifts God has prepared for you.

Over the years I have received some pretty great gifts, but I must admit that even the greatest of those gifts pale in comparison to the gift of Immanuel—God with us. When you really begin to grasp the significance of that gift, it fills your heart with a gratitude and a spirit of generosity that makes it possible to celebrate the miracle of God’s gift over the materialism of more and more stuff.

Let me challenge you to consider creating some new traditions this year—traditions that focus on the miracle worker instead of the materialism. Consider some traditions that emphasize the people in your life, rather than the presents you expect to receive. Remember to make space in your schedule and in your heart for the presence of Jesus, too. Once you receive the miracle he has for you, you can become God’s conduit for delivering miracles to others.

A miracle is a unique event in the world that God does through people like you and me. God does miracles through ordinary, simple people like Mary and Joseph. We have the power to do amazing things . . . if we are willing to sacrifice some of our own comfort for the good of others.

What new traditions in your own holiday planning could focus more on Jesus’ presence than on presents? For a truly different kind of Christmas begin to pray about one or two ideas that you feel might be God-initiated dreams for you to pursue in helping change this world for God’s Kingdom.