To Know You're Never Alone.

Loneliness is a terrible feeling. As human beings, we naturally seem to long for companionship, friendship, and relationship; and when these things are absent or lacking in our lives we hurt. It's funny how when tragedy happens, our desperate prayer is often not that God would change the circumstances, but just that we would not be left to walk through them alone. However, in our imperfection we never fully fill this need for each other. We fight over the silliest things, we become greedy and give our time and love according to what we can receive in return, and we just can't seem to ever perfectly love each other.

The Christmas story is the beautiful truth of God becoming man, to give himself as a perfect sacrifice that will make us right with Himself. One cannot read scripture and come to a different conclusion according to what is written. From the angels to announced His birth, to His blessing by Simeon in the temple who fortold His death; the Christmas story tells of what has begun and what is to come. However, there's something else about the Christmas story that struck me tonight.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Although by perfect faith we would believe that an all powerful God would understand our hurts and needs, none of us are capable of perfect faith and we usually need something a little bit more tangible. We find this in the Christmas story, when God shared in our humanity and lived life as we do. Not only does God demonstrate that He understands, but we are given the promise of mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. When we put our trust, as weak as it may be, in Jesus; He is faithful to remind us that we are not alone. We are never alone.