Last week I had the privilege of speaking at a women’s event in the Chicago area. As I prepared, I felt prompted to speak on kind of a strange topic for Christmas: Fear.
AKA worry, anxiety, angst, hot messiness…
The shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Zechariah… To each of them an angel says, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Don’t. be. afraid.”
It’s the most often repeated command in the Bible so I’m thinking there must be a lot of people dealing with it, right?
Fear is a weird emotion to associate with Christmas, but as I reflect on the shepherds, Mary, Zechariah and Joseph, it isn’t “CHRISTMAS” they are experiencing; it’s just LIFE – their ordinary, everyday walking around life.
And they lose any illusion of control, any illusion of “life as we know it” the moment an angel shows up, right?!!
LIFE isn’t going according to their plans.
They are living a life interrupted.
They are forced to adapt to a Plan B life.
The Plan B life may not be as safe, or predictable, or comfortable, or boring as they’d like, because there are new circumstances. But more than that, there’s a new character in their story. The main character has arrived; the messiah cleverly disguised as a baby in the muck and mess of a manger.
How many of us are living our Plan A life? Really.
- You thought you’d have your dream job by now and you don’t.
- You thought you’d be pregnant and you’re not.
- You thought you’d he’d live and but he died.
- You thought you’d be married by now and you’re not.
Plan B. Life is not going as we thought. Or hoped. Or dreamed.
But the main character, a baby has entered our Plan B life to be with us; to redeem and restore and make the story come out right in the end.
Aaaannnd…spoiler alert: Love wins.
But how do we get from the fear or anxiety that comes with Plan B to the joy promised to all of us? Continue reading
