by Scott Whitaker
The Angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 (NIV)
Read that scripture again. What does it illustrate to you?
Magic? Miracle?
Which is it that you believe?
Maybe it depends on what we really believe, or want to believe. Or things, which in our most difficult of moments, we have to believe. I wonder if our past experiences, on the mountaintops and in the valleys, influence our answer. Do we believe it was—magic or miracle?
Be honest now—do you think it was just a moment of magic?
Magic—ultimately man-made but with a sleight of hand or some concealed apparatus producing baffling effects or illusions, of the David Copperfield or Houdini variety.
Or, do you think it was a miracle?
Miracle—an event or action that contradicts known scientific laws and is thought to be due to supernatural causes, especially linked to an act of God.
It seems as though an individual could rationalize that believing in either of those two choices might produce the end result. However, only one belief will produce a life-transforming path to hope and eternal life.
And what about all the evidences after the virgin birth of the Christ child as a boy and then an adult, teaching, healing, saving, dying and rising to life. Do we just accept all of that as simply something that occurred, or does the fact that it occurred, remind us of who we are, and inspire us to move toward all we should become?
You have to admit, it was a mighty strange way to save the world. To send a tiny baby into the world through a virgin girl. Yet what we believe, and whether we believe it was just something that occurred by magical inexplicable means, or instead believe it to be a miracle of God—makes all the difference in our approach to our todays and tomorrows, and on into our place in eternity.
Take a moment to look back with me at our life’s journey, and how we handled the difficult times in our lives. What did our actions and feelings reflect when the money ran out, when we lost a loved one, when illness hit, when a child lost their way, when a relationship ended or a career path was closed?
Did they reflect that we embraced a belief in what God did way back then as miracle, or did our response reflect a belief in something else? Did we cling to hope despite having suffered through some difficult times, or did we fall into a pit of despair marked by hopelessness? Did we face what was before us with the knowledge that we didn’t face it alone, or did we shrink with doubt and fear in the face of what was before us?
Do the ripples of our faith—through the responses and reactions to the circumstances of our lives—reveal a depth of faith and belief in a God Who really did send an Angel and the Holy Spirit to a virgin girl? Do those same ripples of our faith reveal a depth of faith and a belief that, even though it seems to be a very strange story indeed, it is a story for the ages which only the God of the Ages could fashion—for you and for me?
The depth and stability of our faith in the difficult times reveals, it would seem, how we view what He did way back then. Was it a sleight of hand or a supernatural act? Was it magic? Or was it truly a miracle?
It’s the season of Christmas. It’s not just any holiday.
It’s the moment when Christ was born.
It’s the celebration of the birth of the Son of God—a birth that changed the world and changed the lives of folks like you and like me who believe that He is Christ and that He directs our lives.
It’s a time to reflect once again on the God Who sent His Son as a tiny baby, through a virgin birth, to save the world, and to save you and me.
What do we really believe?
Think about it. For what we really believe about that moment will make all the difference for all of our todays, our tomorrows, and our place in eternity.
We know what we should believe! So—believe it!
In His Name--Scott
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