One of the keys to contentment, peace, and understanding (and, yes, even humility) is to cultivate an awareness of the blessings you and I have received. They are truly innumerable, but most of us, looking at our uncertain circumstances, struggle to find even a few sometimes.
The season of Christmas, a season of giving and receiving, can only be enriched by an attempt to recount our many blessings. We do not share the same experiences, and not all of them were positive. But, God has used even oppositional events and environments to achieve eternal gains— these are all blessings.
Our country of origin, our birth parents, our extended family, our places and cities of residence, our schooling, our friends, our churches, were all providential. These gifts do not make us better than others, but certainly we have benefited from the opportunities we have had. When we look back on all the experiences that influenced and informed who we are today, a lot of those formational events occurred in our youth. We may possess a quality or character trait because we saw it in someone else; or we possess a positive trait because we reacted to a negative role model and vowed to live differently. We are the beneficiaries of so many divine interruptions, and so many different times God’s hands can be seen altering or commending our path.
At times our path may seem more like a pinball game than a steadily ascending trail. God’s hands are there too: enriching our life experience, teaching us about other people, lives, and cultures, and helping us learn the deep lessons of faith found only in adversity.
Perhaps God has graced us with families of our own. Those struggles and blessings have also been very formational. It is comical for you and I to look back over our lives and pat ourselves on the back as so much of who we are now came at God’s orchestration. Sure, we may have pounded some of the nails, but God was the architect.
So, this Christmas, as I review the grace of God in my life, I have to conclude that if God stopped blessing me today, I know that I have already been given immeasurable grace and blessing, far (far) beyond what I deserve--primarily because of one huge gift.
Long before man’s genome was even designed, a loving God looked down the road at what His creation would need. Humans, with free will (even the nice ones), would need a Savior. And that redemptive act began in a stable in Bethlehem among the most unlikely of actors in a most unlikely time.
God’s plan for our lives and even humanity seems so random at times. But, God is a master builder and each brick and timber He uses is laid in precisely the right place at the right time.
God wrought salvation for mankind by sending His Son to a stable in Bethlehem. His Son, Jesus, remains the answer today. May you find your place and His peace this Christmas in the person of Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas
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