The weather has been very peculiar lately, but I am not going to complain. At a time when we typically are feeling the below freezing chill, we are able to enjoy temperatures that near the fifties. Today the warm weather combined with some precipitation, which brought some fog into my area. Since I was a little girl, I always loved fog. It was definitely fun to look at what was “not there” and try to imagine it as it was the day prior, when everything was in clear view.
Just as fog distorts and covers up what is always there, so do we have periods when we cannot see God. We know He is there, but He is silent. Or perhaps we have so many outside noises around us that we are unable to hear Him or see Him at work. Maybe we are not looking at the big picture because we have our focus elsewhere at the moment. Either way, the truth is that God is always here. Sometimes we need to simply take the time to look, and to continue pressing forward with our walk of faith, knowing that God is with us.
Certainly we are to live by faith, as 2 Corinthians 5:7 asserts we should, “live by faith, not by sight.” When Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus, he was there. The men did not know it until it was revealed later, but it doesn’t change the fact that He was present. When Mary Magdalene was crying at the tomb with Jesus there watching, He was there despite her not knowing that He was the One present. She thought He was the gardener until she heard Him speak. It doesn’t change the fact that He was there with her.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). John 1 makes it clear that if we believe, we are children of God. With Christmas day coming in the week ahead, it is important to not let the hustle and bustle of the holiday season create a fog around the true meaning of Christmas. As children of God, it is important to follow Christ as we celebrate His birth and the hope we have in Him. Christmas is not a time for fruit cake, but a time for really showing the fruit of the Spirit as we celebrate God and His love for us, and hope breathing.
“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:8-9 [NIV]
The most precious Christmas gift!
Tania Gutekunst 