I don’t recall her name, maybe she didn’t introduce herself to me, but in the brief moment I was with her we spoke about how much she missed her son and that all she did now was cry. I knew her son, he was a good boy. This is her first Christmas without him.
Last year I mentioned her son in a blog I wrote about the opioid crisis (you can read about it here), he’s the one who overdosed in a restaurant bathroom while his mother waited for him at the table. He didn’t die then.
He and I had been communicating via social media (I never met him in person, he was a friend of my nephew) and it was after that event that I sent him a Bible. He was desperately searching for a way out. We spoke about Jesus because he needed a miracle to save him.
Last month, while I was visiting my mom, the Postwoman rang the doorbell and I signed for a piece of mail. She looked at my signature and asked, “Are you the aunt from Texas?” Her question startled me because I didn’t know her, but I said yes, and she said, “I have the Bible you gave my son.” I immediately knew who she was, and I hugged her. I told her I loved her son, and so did Jesus. Her wound is so very deep, it bleeds continually, and she cries. A lot. She needs a Christmas miracle.
A dear friend called last week, one whose name I’ve known for many years. In a shocking conversation she told me she’s in the vortex of a tornado of infidelity and she’s struggling to plant her feet on solid ground. She doesn’t know how she will manage to get her family through the Christmas holiday. Her heart is broken and she cries. A lot. She needs a Christmas miracle.
I am praying for a couple who just found out they have been selected as adoptive parents, but there’s still time for the birth mother to change her mind.
I am praying for a young man who has terminal lung cancer, he was just told there are no more clinical trials, no more therapies; the current drug is the last hope.
I am praying for a young mom who lost custody of her son last year, and is doing everything the courts say she must do (and more!) to get him back.
This is the most wonderful time of the year, except when it’s not; and when it’s not – what we need is a miracle. We need miracles because there is so much we cannot do. We cannot bring the dead back to life. We cannot resurrect marriages. We cannot change people’s minds or hearts. We cannot heal our bodies. We cannot prove the intent of our heart.
If we cannot change our circumstances how do we live in them when there is so much potential for devastation and heartache?
Only a miracle will help us face both the known and the unknown. Only a miracle will enable us to walk when it seems there is nothing solid beneath us. Only a miracle will keep us from buckling beneath the weight of the fear of what tomorrow might bring. Only a miracle. And that is what we’ve received.
An angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:20-23 NLT)
Seriously. God. With. Us. Not a human man who achieved an exalted station. Not a really wise prophet. Not a great teacher. God. God with us. God, the Alpha and the Omega, God – came down and lived among us. Miraculous? Yes.
Why did he come? Because God love the world – you and me – so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world, not to judge the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17 NLT)
Jesus is the miracle we need. Jesus IS the Christmas miracle. He is the one we celebrate. He is the one who holds all of the tomorrows. He is the one who holds you as you face tomorrow, and whatever tomorrow holds. He is the certainty of victory.
Whatever you are facing today, and whatever miracle you believe you need, will you turn to Jesus and ask him to be your miracle? Will you choose to believe that God is with you, and that there is nothing too difficult for God, and that he will see you through whatever he has brought you to.
I am praying for many people this Christmas season, and I pray for you, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because YOU TRUST IN HIM. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
Merry Christmas! – I will be taking a few weeks away from the blog to spend time with my family but I will be back in the New Year!
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Marcia’s book, 365 Days of Grace — is currently available on any of the following links:
BarnesAndNoble.com
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Marcia Furrow 