It’s easy to get overwhelmed this time of year. With the to-do lists and the expectations piling up I’m finding my soul squeezed tight…even on vacation.

What about you? Is your heart feeling the pull of stress and anxiety too?

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Whenever I feel the grip of anxiety wrapping itself right around my heart I have to stop and reevaluate. Almost always the stress is because I’ve failed to seek and spend time with God.

So today, I opened my Bible to the book of Matthew, the beginning, the Christmas story. And every year it hits me again, the wonder and awe of these simple chapters.

There is a beauty, an awe, a peace in the story of God with us.

“”Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”
Matthew 1:23

God with us.
…with us.

He left heaven, perfection and peace and joy. He left that to be with us. To walk with us. To teach us. To love us. To save us.

He left heaven to be born, helpless. He left heaven to grow and learn, humbled. He left heaven to die, wrongfully accused. He least heaven to return, glorified.

He left heaven for us. To make a way for us to be with Him, now and for eternity. He left heaven to bring His peace and joy to our hard, earthbound lives, to bring us steadfast hope in an eternity with Him.

God came to be with us on earth so that we can be with Him for eternity.

As my mouth whispered the words of the Christmas story, my heart breathed in hope. Because the word of Truth breeds hope and peace.

So in this season, and truly, every season, the anecdote for anxiety is truth…the truth of our position, our hope. The word of truth about the Truth Himself is the peace of Christmas.

Be blessed