(This is a re-written, updated & adapted version of last years Christmas blog, with some new thoughts I’ve gleaned over the past year)

“Show me the wonders of Your great Love, You who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in you” (Ps. 17:7).

Joy to the World is one of my favorite Christmas carols. The fourth verse speaks about the ‘wonders of God’s Love.’  Sometimes, I wonder if really know the wonder of His Love? I know I LOVE Christmas. I also know I LOVE giving and receiving gifts, and –  I LOVE feeling good. But, I don’t always feel good at Christmas.  Every year it’s a mixed bag of emotions. 

Perhaps this happens to you as well? Maybe you wear yourself out with Christmas preparations? Do you ache for a relationship you once had, don’t have, or perhaps long for one you do have to be different? There can be many unfulfilled expectations as we look to our circumstances or people to fill those needs. Whatever the loss, Christmas time seems to evoke many emotions for a lot of us.

For me, it’s the absence of my three daughters not being here. However, I was able to put up my tree and decorate it without crying, which was a record-breaker for me. But if it isn’t one thing, something else will try to take our eyes off the wonder of God’s Love and onto the disappointments of this life. Comparing, dwelling on our problems, rehearsing our frustrations, and focusing on ourselves all drain and rob us of the hope and wonder of life. It’s at these times that we are tempted to put our hope in things that do not fully satisfy or bring lasting fulfillment. 

HEART LONGINGS

We all have different longings depending on the season of our soul. It may be longing for something or someone we don’t have or like me, long for things to be the way they once were and never again will be. But nothing stays the same. Things out of our control are a part of life. People move away, grow old, and die, or sometimes relationships end, leaving you feeling empty. Circumstances change. People change and often let us down. We let ourselves down. We let others down. All this brings disappointment and frustration.

BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE

But God, in His mercy, graciously reminds us of one of the great wonders of His Love in Isaiah 49:23: “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Our Heavenly Father knows when we’re hurting and looking to the wrong things to satisfy our deepest longings. He desires to wrap us in His Love and truth to fulfill our deepest longings, even when we’re seeking only our own happiness. It’s because of the wonder of His love that we can hope in HIM, HIS WORD, and HIS LOVE.

The neat thing is that He never points a judging finger or is disappointed by our struggle. In fact, He set aside His Deity to become a human baby, then lived as a man to experience all these things (and more), so He could sympathize with our struggles. He knows that what we need is His Love and He never holds it back from us. Instead, He waits patiently to show mercy and compassion to us. (Is. 30:18). 

MOST POWERFUL FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE

Love, the most powerful and compelling force in the universe, is what motivates us to endure our circumstances. When a child gets hurt everything is better when Mommy or Daddy (or both) are nearby. In any good story, Love is the motivator for the rescue OR the sacrifice. When any of us know how Loved we are, we are willing to go the extra mile for that person. The old Beatles song says it almost right, “all you need is Love.” Human love is good AND essential but can still, quite often, disappoint. Only God’s Love can fulfill our deepest needs and longings because it NEVER FAILS, ENDURES FOREVER, and SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE. (1 Cor. 13:8, Ps. 136, Eph. 3:19). 

Our pain, our loneliness, and our fears are genuine. He sees it all, longing to comfort and fill us with His Love as we look to Him and take refuge in Him.  We can tell God what’s wearing us out, disappointing, or hurting us. He’s aware of the broken world we live in and knows our hearts. He knows the number of hairs on our head, the specific way He formed us, AND how the story ends. He’s the Sovereign God who can help us by revealing the wonders of His Love.  

CREATED TO LOVE

He gives us a solution to our unfulfilled expectations. We are created in HIS image, with the capacity TO GIVE. TO LOVE. But our sin causes us to look within and without, instead of upward. Corrie ten Boom, (Dutch Nazi Resistor who spent time in Ravensbruck concentration camp), said, “Look at the world and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look at God and be at REST.”

And so, it’s only HIS LOVE that can truly propel us forward in this broken world when we’ve been hurt, misunderstood, or disappointed. It is when we know this Love, that we can Love God and others in our brokenness. To truly KNOW this love, we have to GIVE IT AWAY, just as He did and continues to do. This is what actually brings healing to our brokenness. LOVE is what we were made for. This is a Great Wonder. When we cease to love, we cease to live. 

HIS GIFT

God knew ahead of time what would bring ultimate life and healing to all of us. LOVE. So, He gave us His indescribable gift in the form of His Son. His plan was for us to not only know love but to give it away so He LAVISHED this gift on us. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).

LOVE”S POWER

This Love has the power to free us from expectations that not only bring us down and disappoint us but also keep us from being who He created us to be. Givers of this Love. This is life abundant. As we unwrap AND embrace the gift of His Son, Jesus, we can know the WONDERS OF HIS LOVE! We can put our hope (Expectation), in something that will never disappoint or let us down—God’s LOVE. He loves us just the way we are. Happy or sad.  

God’s Love is greater and stronger than our doubts, fears, bondages, unbelief, unmet expectations, and disappointments. He will not leave us the same. GOD’S LOVE IS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE. If your heart feels avoid this Christmas, how about allowing God’s Love to fill it up? Then, find a way to give that away. That’s what you were created for. 

 

It is our prayer that your heart is captured by this incomprehensible LOVE. And that as you experience it and give it away, you can also sing of the WONDERS of HIS LOVE this Christmas and New Year! Merry Christmas!

While you are here, please take a few moments to read some of my blogs. I’d love to hear from you, so please scroll down, (here on my website), and leave a comment in the comment box.

There will be no end to God’s love for you!
Debbie & Joe

Debbie L. Mayer