The season is upon us where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Not only do I remember the day that my Savior was born, but I am also reminded of what my relationship with Him stands for. I was reading a passage from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers today. There was something that stood out for me in his words. It said

Waiting for God is incarnate unbelief, it means that I have no faith in Him; I wait for Him to do something in me that I may trust in that. God will not do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man has to go out of himself in his covenant with God as God goes out of Himself in His covenant with man.


Too often, I expect God to do something in me…for Him to change me…without me doing much of the work. I pray for the Lord to change my heart; For Him to make me the woman of God that He desires me to be. Yet, what am I doing to help Him move my molding process along? Am I spending more time in His Word and learning about who that woman of God is? Am I turning from my own selfishness and replacing it with God’s love toward others? What I am really doing in this whole process? I suppose I think that God can miraculously change me overnight, much like He created the world in 6 days. It is true that He literally could do such a thing, but He will most likely not do that. Not because He doesn’t love me, but because He loves me so much. He wants me to learn through the process of changing. He wants me to see where I started, where I progressed to, and how I came out on the other side. Then, I can look back and see the great work that He will have done. That is true love because He shows that He IS working in me at all times. It may not come as fast as I would like, but it is always in His perfect timing.

In our relationship with the Lord, He is always reaching out to us. It is our job to reach back toward Him rather than run the opposite direction or merely not look toward Him. As Christians, we have inside us what it takes to grow and mature in our faith because God has given us the Holy Spirit. Not only is the Holy Spirit within us to be a sort of conscience, but He also helps us pray when we don’t know what to pray for (Romans 8:26), He is there to comfort us when times are tough, He is there to strengthen us when we are weak, and He speaks God’s Word to our heart. He doesn’t tell us anything unless it’s directly from God. So, why do Christians sometimes think that we have to wait for God to bestow an additional gift upon us when we have already received it all through the Holy Spirit?

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 states:

For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in Heaven, that you should say ‘Who will ascend into Heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the Word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

If you are a Christian, you will always be growing. You will always be learning. We learn more about God each day as different situations, whether easy or difficult, come into our lives. We read His Word and learn of His different characteristics, which fulfill everything that we could ever ask for (and even some that we wouldn’t think to ask for). It is all before us. We must merely reach out for it. We musn’t get bogged down with petty life problems that have no impact on salvation, on advancing His gospel, and on serving Him more. I suppose our walk with God can be summed up with Hebrews 12:1-2.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a could of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

This life is a race toward the finish line, which is Heaven. We can’t necessarily run faster to speed up the process, but we must train for it, we must treat our bodies well and be healthy for it, and we must keep looking forward, toward God. He is standing at the finish line with His arms open wide, waiting for us to cross over and be with Him forever.

So, when you think of the reason for this season, not only remember the baby Jesus lying in the manger, but also remember what He started that day. God came to Earth to be with us. He kept His promise to save us from Satan and gives us the opportunity to know Him personally. It is our responsibility to reciprocate a relationship with Him. He’s not far off, in some unknown chasm in space. He is here, now and forever, with us. I hope that thought can bring a smile to your face at this time of year and always.