Christmas is one of those special seasons where the world changes into something magical. It's almost as if everyone pauses and begins to believe in something better, something significant, something different. For this small season, our culture defies itself and celebrates generosity and kindness and joy.
As Shauna Niequist puts it, the gap between heaven and earth becomes smaller at Christmas. We can feel it.
We want to fully embrace the magic and so we throw tinsel everywhere and drink egg nog and listen to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" over and over again.
For some us, however, Christmas is a sharp reminder of the gap in our lives we want to fill - the relationship we want to have, the place we want to be, the trait we want to obtain. We aren't where we want to be, and Christmas reminds us that we aren't there yet.
The beautiful thing is, that's what Christmas is really about.
When Jesus was born, he was unexpected. No one knew when the savior, the promised hope of the world, was going to come. When he did show up, it was in the most unlikely of places - from a virgin mother, in a small town, hidden away in a barn.
His birth indicated the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. He set a new standard for the way things should be. And yet, on the night of his birth, only a small few recognized the significance of what had taken place. Everything was the same, and yet everything was different.
The hope of Christmas tells us that we can wish for more, but we can trust our amazing God to give us exactly what we need at the exact right time.
Maybe God is doing something - something big, something grand, something better than what we are asking for. Maybe we are missing what God is doing because we are looking for something specific, and he's trying to capture our attention and show us the new thing he is doing. Or maybe he is going to do something, just not yet.
God promised a savior, and he sent a savior. May this Christmas be a reminder to each of us that God can and will keep his promises. Let's celebrate that.
So jump in. Enjoy the magic of Christmas. Celebrate what you do have, cherish the people you have in front of you, and trust that God has something good coming.
Keep hoping, keep praying, and keep trusting that God will provide in both expected and unexpected ways.
Merry Christmas.