I had a number of different posts I was hoping to share in the weeks leading up to Christmas, which to the Christian, should be a most joyful and meaningful season. These were writings I had wanted to share as encouragement in a year that desperately needs a touch of life-sustaining hope.

But the week before Thanksgiving, my son’s autism school closed unexpectedly for two weeks and then, two days before that holiday, I received word that they would be remaining closed until the end of January. This, along with other life challenges, altered my plans considerably and increased the demands on my time and my brain energy. Simply said, I haven’t the ability in this present season to write the words that have been sifting through my thoughts, nor would I have the courage to try.

However, I know this is a heavy season for many. The year has been trying and so many of us are weary from the storms we have been walking through and enduring alone. So I am just going to share the one Scripture verse that has most been holding my thoughts in these last weeks and it is Matthew 1:23 —

“Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

God with us. I have long considered these to be some of the sweetest words in all of Scripture and in these present season of difficulty, loneliness, fear, and challenges, I find great comfort in them. Because Jesus came to this earth as an infant so long ago, as part of God’s predetermined plan of redemption for His people, we can live in the reality that God is indeed with us.

In our sorrow … God with us.

In our grief … God with us.

In our fear … God with us.

In the storms of life that no one sees … God with us.

In our loneliness … God with us.

Whatever we are walking through in life right now … God with us.

This Christmas, if you are also finding it difficult to capture a typical sense of delight in the season, I want to encourage you to ponder on these truths, as Mary, the mother of Christ, did so long ago. Read the accounts in Matthew and Luke and spend some time pondering on what ‘God with us’ means and how that impacts the circumstances in which you may find yourself. You may not be filled with seasonal Christmas joy and merriment, but I do believe you can find comfort and encouragement for today.

God with us.