Our Immanuel
Pause:
Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down, and focus on Jesus.
Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the Scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.
Read:
Matthew 1: 20 - 23:
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
See the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
Going Deeper:
Being a human can feel so overwhelming sometimes. There is A LOT to enjoy about it, but there is also a reality that there are so many things to navigate - health, emotions, bills, schedules, jobs, loss of jobs, conversations, errands, what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, the list can go on and on and on and on. All of those things we are navigating now have the added layer of trying to figure out the best choices for ourselves in the midst of a world that is suffering a pandemic. Yikes! I don’t know about you, but the suffering that surrounds me due to Covid-19 can be so overwhelming for my soul. Personally, this season has proven to be even tougher with the reality of illness that has simultaneously invaded my family. Right now, navigating suffering cannot be escaped, but trying to do so without Jesus would be impossible.
In this passage, we get the greatest news in the world that the Almighty, All-Knowing, All-Glorious and All-Powerful God will be born as a human (who has to navigate the same things we do, plus so much more) as Jesus… WHAT?!? Pause for a moment- let that sink in. The same navigating and juggling of life we have to do, God willingly chose to experience so we may never be alone in anything we encounter. Wow.
Jesus as Immanuel - God with you, God with me, God with us - is exactly what my soul needs to lean on in this time. That nothing we encounter we experience alone, because the same God that created the Heavens and the Earth came before us to walk this earth. In doing so, He experienced sadness, grief, loneliness, angst and suffering. Not only is He God with us, but He is also the God who has gone before us, in every season, pandemic or not. Immanuel reminds us that He knows and understands us and is there, because He was once there.
He knows what it is like to feel isolated and silenced (Matthew 27: 25-31). He experienced loneliness so he could understand yours (Mark 14: 32- 42). He knows what it is like to walk in angst (Matthew 26: 36 - 46). And in this time, what brings the most comfort is knowing that suffering, heartache and grief is not foreign to our loving Friend because 'Jesus wept.,’ (John 11:35) even though he knew that after suffering came life and hope. He allowed himself the chance to weep so when you weep, He can say, “I know and I am here.”
So let us sit in the truth that Immanuel came to experience human life so He could deeper relate to us. That Immanuel died so that we may be reconciled to our Dad. That Immanuel chose to feel every emotion we are experiencing to remind us of the promises of hope and peace that follow. Lastly, that Immanuel wants nothing more than to deeply love us, see us, sit with us and cradle us in our deepest moments of angst and suffering. Relishing in this truth is the comfort and reminder my soul so desperately needs. “...And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 20)
Pray:
Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage today.
Listen:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?
Apply:
What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?