If someone is an authority in our life, and wants to speak to us, we almost always assume the worst…right? If your boss says to you, “I need you to come to my office!"…Are you thinking promotion or problem? We usually assume the worst.
We do the same thing with God. When we think about God wanting to speak with us we fret about that. That’s why, when we mess up, we stop coming to church...stop praying. We know what we did. God knows what we did. If God wants to talk to us we assume that it can’t be good. There is a divine disconnect when it comes to seeing our sin and encountering God. There is a lot of fear there.
When the Angels showed up to announce the birth of Christ it freaked the Shepherds out. However, their terror was soon replaced with joy. The angel said to them, (Luke 2:10) “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”
There is a message in that for us. Take it from someone that has allowed his assumptions to mess up great relationships. Our assumptions are often wrong.
The message of Christmas isn’t about fear it’s about joy! An angel showed up to announce a reason for living not hiding. God has come to us, not to scare us, but to save us—to give us another chance.
It's not just good news for good people it is good news for all people! We do not need to be afraid we need to be glad! God meets us where we are, knows how messy we are, and loves us just as we are.
We do the same thing with God. When we think about God wanting to speak with us we fret about that. That’s why, when we mess up, we stop coming to church...stop praying. We know what we did. God knows what we did. If God wants to talk to us we assume that it can’t be good. There is a divine disconnect when it comes to seeing our sin and encountering God. There is a lot of fear there.
When the Angels showed up to announce the birth of Christ it freaked the Shepherds out. However, their terror was soon replaced with joy. The angel said to them, (Luke 2:10) “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”
There is a message in that for us. Take it from someone that has allowed his assumptions to mess up great relationships. Our assumptions are often wrong.
The message of Christmas isn’t about fear it’s about joy! An angel showed up to announce a reason for living not hiding. God has come to us, not to scare us, but to save us—to give us another chance.
It's not just good news for good people it is good news for all people! We do not need to be afraid we need to be glad! God meets us where we are, knows how messy we are, and loves us just as we are.
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