| DAY 6 |
They will call him Immanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
WITH US
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On a Christmas morning years ago, I stood beside my dad at the foot of the stairs and saw the sadness in his face. The effects of dementia were progressing. He realized he’d never again climb those stairs and enter the room he’d shared with my mom all these years.
Our family entered a season of waiting. Waiting for the disease to remove Daddy’s voice and thinking. Waiting for the moment when his eyes would tell us he didn’t know who we were. Waiting for the endings to come.
That Christmas I found hope in the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It’s about waiting. The Israelites had been waiting for the Messiah to come—wondering if He really would. Their waiting, however, wasn’t in vain. Jesus was born into our world to save us from sin—His birth the fulfillment of prophecy hundreds of years before: “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’),” said the prophet Isaiah (7:14).
Jesus’ birth redeems the endings in our life. His presence strengthens us as we wait for them and journey through them. God was with my dad that day as he looked up the flight of stairs. And one day, He will be with us, forever. He’s the end of all our painful waiting—the end of all our endings. God is with us (MATTHEW 1:23).
KAREN HUANG
How does the truth of God’s presence with you transform your seasons of waiting?
Even while knowing that life is full of endings, why can you still look to the future with hope?
Dear Jesus, thank You for being my Immanuel.
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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | MATTHEW 1:20–23
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
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