My answer of course is no --- I don’t think anyone is every completely prepared for such a time. However, I do remember a time when I would constantly worry about something happening to my children when I was not with them. So much so that it consumed my thought life and eventually I had to seek God with this problem. After some time, I realized that I had to let go of my children --- I had to let go and let God have them. I had come to the realization that no matter how much I worried, how much I planned, or how much I tried to protect them, I could never always keep them from harm. I had no other choice but to put my complete trust, my complete heart and soul into the hands of Jesus Christ. We can never be smart enough to prepare for what is to come. Our preparation comes through our faith in Jesus. We have to cling to Him and His Word because everything else will fade away. It will not be easy, in fact it will probably be more difficult than we could ever imagine, but His Word gives us many promises, one of which is that He will take care of his children when we trust him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. While researching the promises of God I found two scriptures that stood out to me, funny thing---one was in the old testament and one in the new testament, I think God was letting me know that His word has and always will be true no matter what year it was written.
- For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4:31
- Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. II Corinthians 1:3-5
So with these scripture I am reminded of who I truly serve….he will not only give comfort to me and my family through difficult times, he will use us to show comfort to others. I don’t know about you, but that makes my heart flip over!
Along with all this I have heard the song Mary Did You Know? numerous times this week and while this is one of my all-time favorite songs, I heard something different this time. The words ‘Mary did you know that your baby boy will save your sons and daughters?’ reminded me that he is in control of me and my children, it reminded me once again that only he can truly save my son and my daughter. And then tonight as my family sat together in the living room to read the Christmas story we decided to read the version from Luke, we usually read it from either Matthew or John. We ended up reading more than ever before, because my children said to keep on reading that they wanted to know what happened next. All this reading lead to even more discussion about Jesus and who he really is to us---I could not have been more humbled by the greatness of God that filled my living room and surrounded each of us.
My family is all asleep now and as I look back over the story in Luke that we read together tonight I suddenly am drawn to the words of Simeon in Luke 2:33-35, The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” What did Mary think when she heard the words ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too'? I am sure she had a big lump in her throat and wondered just what he meant by those words. Although Jesus was God’s son, although he was sent to save us all, he was still just a baby, and he was Mary’s baby, a baby that she felt she had to take care of, just as I do. I am certain that day long ago when Jesus’ side was pierced on that cross for our sake that Mary felt as though her soul was pierced as well.
So tonight as I gather everything to put under the tree I am reminded that the greatest gift that I can give my children is to give them back to God.
I wish everyone a most blessed Christmas!
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