Can you feel it?
The palpable sensation that Christmas is coming.
For me, the first sign of the season is the arrival of the red Starbucks cup, then there’s the John Lewis tear-jerker and if that doesn’t make it obvious enough, I can’t do a single lap of the supermarket without Noddy Holder yelling ‘’It’s Christmas!’’, over the speakers.
Whilst the streets are embellished with bright, neon signs declaring that the chaos of Christmas has commenced, I find myself praying for a sign of my own. Sometimes, I could really use a brightly shining star over a glittering job opportunity, a prophecy to foretell what is next for my life or the sudden appearance of an angel to assure me that God is with me in uncertain times.
After all, God is good at signs, right?
Jesus’s arrival on earth was signalled by a host of heavenly beings and was foretold by a prophet!
But how do I know that God is with me right now?
Do you ever find yourself calling out ‘’God, please, just give me a sign?"
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will
conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel (God is with us).
Isaiah 7:14
Immanuel. God is with us. This is the sign that the world is looking for.
Jesus came into the world in the dark of night. His parents travelled a difficult journey, full of uncertainty, without a clear sign to tell them everything was going to be ok. God didn’t spare Mary and Joseph from a long road of struggle because He never promised that our way would be easy. What He does promise is that He is with us and His faithfulness to His word could not be clearer than during the Christmas season. At Christmas, God made His way to be with us as a man, to show us love in a way that we can understand and to sacrifice Himself so that we could be with Him eternally.
He is with us. Immanuel is my sign.
Rebecca Elliott
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