BE READY FOR DIFFERENT
This Christmas, Let's Expect the Unexpected.
Whether you are working, volunteering or just helping out at a church, it’s easy to slip into a rhythm of activity within our tasks.
Sundays come, and Sundays go. A sermon series starts and ends. Events and conferences are planned for weeks, and they’re over in a few hours. Sometimes it begins to feel as repetitive as doing the laundry - rinse, wash, repeat, right?
This year a lot of things happened that we were not expecting, and it's safe to say it was totally different then what we had planned... This Christmas season, let's not get caught in an automatic holiday cycle, thinking it will just be another Christmas. Let's enter this time of year with anticipation of what God is going to do through His Church and in His people.
If we go back to the original Christmas—the birth of Jesus. Many things can be said about this sacred event, but let’s focus on this: it was very unexpected.
- Joseph had a plan to get have a regular wedding, but no one expected his fiancé to be pregnant.
- People were waiting for a Messiah, but no one expected the Savior of the world to come as a meek and mild child?
- Who would have expected the King of Kings to be born among barn animals and the baby placed in a manger?
- Who would have expected angels to appear to lowly poor shepherds?
Why would we - as leaders and children of God - think that God is not able to do something very different and unexpected? We should be ready for nothing less than God’s best this Christmas!
No matter what challenges your family, ministry or personal life is facing right now, we hope you’ll enter this Christmas season expecting God to do the unexpected. Spend some time with your family or your staff to identify some of the “unexpected” things God can do or has already done this year, and then be ready to expect it! Pray for it, believe that God can do something different, and then prepare for His works it knowing that He has a plan.
Because we know He stands ready to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)
Let's expect this year to be different, and not be surprised when something unexpected knocks on our door this season. What are you believing and trusting God for this Christmas season?
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