Psalm 71:12-16
Come closer, God!
Please hurry and help.
Embarrass and destroy
all who want me dead;
disgrace and confuse
all who want to hurt me.
I will never give up hope.
All day long I will tell
the wonderful things you do
to save your people.
But you have done much more
than I could possibly know.
I will praise you, Lord God,
for your mighty deeds
and your power to save.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When I was a child, a family who attended our church had three daughters. The youngest was afflicted with cerebral palsy. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, many children who had a “birth defect” were either kept at home behind closed doors… or placed in an institution where a professional staff cared for them. But not Mary. Her parents and sisters treated her as normally as any other person. She did attend a school in a nearby community for a while, but her mother brought her home on weekends. Eventually, she had live-in care to help the family meet her needs… and she was a frequent attendee at church and community events.
Mary was confined to a wheelchair. Her atrophied arms and legs did not work right. She communicated with her eyes and facial gestures. As a child, I often heard adults criticizing this family for treating Mary so normally. They scoffed at the notion that Mary could communicate. When the family claimed that Mary played a mean game of bridge, people secretly rolled their eyes and laughed… and I’m sure there were plenty who were bold enough to actually voice their opinions to this family.
Mary’s mother, Geraldine (whom I called MawMac), shared my birthday…and over the years, we exchanged birthday cake, cards and phone calls. I considered MawMac my mentor and hero until her dying day. For all of her 94 years, she fought through illnesses and injuries… criticisms, personal hardships and heartaches… so that she could care for Mary. When the day came that MawMac was too old to physically care for Mary at home - even with the assistance of other caregivers - she reluctantly agreed to allow Mary to move to a skilled-care facility in a community some 40 miles away. Until she had to give up driving because of her age and health (somewhere in her late 80s!), MawMac made the trip to visit Mary at least once a week. Her end-of-life goal was to live longer than Mary. She said, "The only person I want to outlive is Mary. I'm her mother, and I must be here to be sure she is always cared for."
MawMac was one of the Godliest women I ever knew. If the church doors were open… she was there. She gave great advice! Her faith and hope were an inspiration to many. Eventually, she moved to an Assisted Living facility and became very ill. One August day, her daughters visited Mary (who was just recovering from an illness of her own). They told Mary how sick MawMac was…how hard it was for her to move and breathe. And that night, Mary went to sleep… and woke up in heaven. Less than 24 hours later, MawMac followed her. These two ladies lived and breathed their hope in Jesus… they “walked” their faith in God to see them through anything and everything. They looked past criticisms and ridicule - and what was probably outright hatred and disgust from some… and saw the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. And this is where they placed their focus.
I wonder if you and I can say the same thing in our own lives? Surely there are times when we are snubbed… hurt… insulted… demeaned. Maybe you are ridiculed for your faith…or judged unfairly because you choose to conduct yourself in a particular way. If you are steadfast in your faith and your love for Jesus, there will always be those who groan and roll their eyes behind your back. I’ve noticed these are also some of the same people who are front and center to ask for help and prayers when the chips are down! The conclusion I have drawn is that consistent, enduring hope and faith in God rubs off on others… and pays dividends!
And so we come to Christmas Eve and narrow our focus to that night over 2000 years ago when God sent a baby to earth to live and breathe among us as human flesh. Let’s remind ourselves that He has done much more than we could possibly know. Jesus has given us hope where ours was lost… He quiets the offenses and attacks of those who judge and belittle us (if only behind our backs)… and He will never leave us or cease in His efforts on our behalf! This is truly GOOD NEWS… and God is surely worthy of our praise… and our unending hope!
One of MawMac’s daughters shared these thoughts with me, and I would like to pass them on to you…
“Something my mother used to do every Christmas Eve was take us outside before bedtime. She'd say, ‘Now, look up in the sky and just feel the night. You can tell Santa Claus is up there.’ She said this in her most dramatic voice and it really impressed us. She continued until we were grown. I did the same with my children. I also continued after they were grown up. I suspect that this Christmas Eve, I will be out there looking up at the sky, feeling the night and Santa. The faith and excitement of all those millions of children makes it real and palpable. Give it a whirl!”
While MawMac may very well have said that you can tell Santa Claus is up there… I’d be willing to bet she also reminded her children that GOD is up there, too. MawMac’s hope was in God, who makes everything possible. And so is mine! So tonight, go outside and look up in the sky and “feel the night.” Revel in God’s presence…receive His gift of Jesus… and embrace all of the hope that comes with it. I dare you to "give it a whirl"! Merry Christmas Eve… and may God bless and keep you!
©2013 Debbie Robus
1 Chronicles 16:8-15
Praise the LORD and pray in his name! Tell everyone what he has done. Sing praises to the LORD! Tell about his miracles. Celebrate and worship his holy name with all your heart. Trust the LORD and his mighty power. Worship him always. Remember his miracles and all his wonders and his fair decisions.
You belong to the family of Israel, his servant; you are his chosen ones, the descendants of Jacob. The LORD is our God, bringing justice everywhere on earth. We must never forget his agreement and his promises, not in thousands of years.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
It’s finally here… one of the days we wait for all year long - Christmas Eve! No doubt, there will be celebration and worship going on in every corner of the world, as we revel in the birth of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. And surely more than a handful of promises have been made… “I promise to be good so Santa will come”… “I promise to stop over to visit during the holidays”… “I promise I won’t eat or drink too much”… “I promise not to spend more than I can afford”… “I promise to focus more on Jesus this year and less on the commercialism of the holidays.”
Many promises will be made with the best of intentions, but more than a few of these will also be broken. Thankfully, we serve a God who is just and fair and always honors His commitments. The promises He gave us in the prophecy of the Old Testament were fulfilled over 2000 years ago… and still hold up today. Jesus came to earth to live among us as a human being and to show us how to love one another and serve God wholeheartedly. He died on a cross to pay for our sins… and we cling to the promise of spending Eternity in Heaven with Him someday.
In this season of tinsel and garland, twinkling lights and decadent food, gifts and festivities extraordinaire, we must remember WHOSE we are… and WHY we celebrate. This is a great time to reflect on the miracles in our own lives that were performed by the same God who sent His only Son to earth so long ago. Acknowledge how blessed you are and how fair God has been in your life. Recognize that He promises to continue to bless you and work in and through you to accomplish great things in His name. The birth of Jesus Christ was completely wrapped in the promises of God’s hope and glory… and these promises and agreements are as solid today as they ever were.
THIS is the real reason we celebrate. This is the reason we gather and shower each other with love, gifts, food and more. We are saying, “Jesus has come, by the power of God! He has showered us with blessings and miracles… and He will continue to do so. Praise be to God for His great love and kindness.” Never will there be another birthday celebration so grand. We are truly honored to be included in this party. Will your celebration be fit for the King of Kings?
©2011 Debbie Robus
Psalm 59:16
But I will sing about your strength, my God, and I will celebrate because of your love. You are my fortress, my place of protection in times of trouble.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Around 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1997, we were awakened by a phone call from my mom. She and my brother were taking my dad to the ER. He was having trouble breathing. My dad was already very ill, having suffered kidney failure following an arteriogram to test for vascular blockage in October of that year. My husband and I rushed to the hospital, where doctors eventually determined that my dad needed to be transported by ambulance to Little Rock. We had planned a huge “open house” at our home for Christmas Eve afternoon… lots of food, fun and visits with family and friends. But none of that mattered now… we needed to get my mom to Little Rock and see about my dad.
Mom had other ideas. “You are to stay here,” she insisted. “I’ll go home and gather some things and be on my way… I won’t be far behind the ambulance. You are to go ahead with your open house as planned… that’s what your dad and I want. You don’t need to worry about me… I’ll be fine.” My mother inherited her dad’s stubborn streak, and it was shining brightly at the moment! Standing in her raincoat, her curly white hair peeking from the hood, my mother looked small, but determined. And on this Christmas Eve morning, I was immediately reminded of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Historians say that Mary was very young – possibly no more than thirteen when Jesus was born. Yet we know nothing of the parents of Mary and Joseph. We do know that Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth. And Scripture tells us that when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was pregnant, she trusted this information and accepted it on faith, even though she was a virgin.
So I can imagine that a very pregnant Mary said to her parents, “Don’t worry about me… I’ll be fine.” I can just see her hugging her parents and telling them good-bye, then climbing atop Joseph’s donkey to make the trip to Bethlehem. And her parents must have been equally faithful… confident that letting their daughter go off with her fiancé to a foreign land in this condition – as crazy as it seemed - was exactly what was supposed to happen!
We went ahead with our “open house”. My dad was released from the hospital a few days later, and he and my mom returned home. We celebrated Christmas as a family on New Year’s weekend. And just as she had said, my mom made it safely to Little Rock and back. I can’t say she was “fine,” because I know she spent a lonely, difficult Christmas in that hospital by my dad’s bedside. I’m sure she was worried for him and homesick for us. But God gave her the strength, courage and resolve to make it through this and many other challenging situations.
I saw God do the same thing for the wife of my cousin a few years later, when she traveled alone in the dark of night back and forth between Heber Springs and Memphis, where her husband was hospitalized. She told her children the same thing, “I’ll be fine.” And because she and my mother share the same kind of abiding, unwavering faith, I knew in reason she would be. I was able to reassure them with confidence – and experience – that this was the case.
You and I have quite a legacy of faith… not to mention the protection of God. So often we panic and wring our hands and forget that He promised long, long ago to take care of us… and He’s still in the business of doing so today. Just as God was a fortress for Joseph and Mary, and millions of other people through the ages, He is our fortress today.
I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t know if you are facing scary things this Christmas Eve… the prospect of being alone for the holidays… or huge challenges that loom in the future. But I know that with God, all things are possible. With God as your fortress, you can handle anything. You can put your trust in Him to walk with you and offer you protection and guidance every step of the way… and you can rest in the faith that He will do this.
God’s word was good enough for Mary and Joseph… it was good enough for my mom and countless others through the centuries… and it’s good enough for us! Are we faithful enough to believe it? Isn’t today the perfect time to begin?
©2010 Debbie Robus
