THE CHRISTMAS TRUTH.

CHRISTMAS:

It’s a subject known by many for the classic nativity story. Every year children from all over the world perform in school and church nativities. We have walking stars, crying sheep, grumpy wise men, forgetful shepherds and of course young girls dressed in blue!

I had the honour to play Mary once in my school play, the pride and joy you feel, as a 6 year old is immense. ‘I get to play Mary,’ ‘She’s the best character cause she gets to be the mum.’ ‘She gets to wear a pretty blue dress and ride a cool donkey.’ Growing up in church, this is the picture that we see painted, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and called her ‘Highly favored by God.’

What an amazing name to be called. The connotations that come with that name must be incredible, a life so blessed and easy. Surely the mother of the Son of God would be treated as a queen. I was proud to be Mary; I thought it was the best.

She is the most amazing woman, but for very different reasons that I thought back then.

In reality, the nativity hides over the raw and broken story that is Christmas.

This story is God dipping down into the chaos of life and bringing purpose to it. Of all the stories he could have picked, of the routes he could have taken, the Christmas story is totally and utterly life like. It screams of tragic moments, it tells of hardship, it shows a young girl choosing obedience and to believe and trust in her God.

Mary’s very ‘well planned life’ was quickly taken over when she chose to follow God. She chose to walk and leave her pretty little comforts and walk a very hard road. She couldn’t see the end. She couldn’t see the victory. She would have never known the things we know today, that she is the mother of a king, the mother of pure perfection, she raised the son of God, the savior of our sins. One meeting with an angel, that’s all she as given, one word and one moment that changed the course of her life. All she knew is was that she was pregnant with a son and that she was chosen by God. From this moment life would be a surreal and a very chaotic journey.

We forget the hard bits of the Christmas story, we forget the long journey taken to Bethlehem on a donkey, we forget the struggle to even find a place to rest, we forget the moment that Mary had to tell her friends, family and fiancé that she was pregnant, not just pregnant, but with the son of God. We forget the moment they had to flee to Egypt because Herod was killing every child under the age of 2. We forget that bit. Mary, highly favored by God had the roughest ride, a raw deal and life like ride that lead her to years later see her son beaten and die on a cross for something he did not do. We forget that part in our nativities.

We all have our plans, our perfect stories and endings. We forget that life will take over and in those messy, crazy, unplanned moments, God is most involved, intervening and stepping in.

When we find ourselves in unredeemable moments that we ourselves cannot turn right, I am reminded that God steps into my reality. In a world soaked in sex, drugs, judgement, in a society that makes pornography trendy, in a culture that robs kindness, trust, vulnerability. In the world that looks after number one, In a sad, broken and hurting world. In the chaos of life God steps in. To the person struggling with anxieties, to the friends in pits of depression, to those with broken hearts, to the those with chains that bind them, just like the Christmas story, God enters in and turns it for good. I want to believe in that; I want to believe that for myself.

‘Perfect faith is not faith that moves God, perfect faith is the faith that moves us to trust God when he doesn’t seem to be moving.’

'It was never the plan' but here is the Christmas truth.

I don’t know what is coming but I do know who my God is, I don't know what life looks like next, but I know who holds it and he will bring purpose and hope.