“God with Us"

“Hark the herald angels sing
‘Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.’"

Christmas- stressed out yet? Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas shopping, Christmas stress, Candy canes, Santa this and Santa that are all overwhelmingly set before us now. We all know the cues. Everything, seemingly, screams celebration about the season. But there’s a quote out there, worth noting: “keep the main thing the main thing.”

Do we?

For those of us with all manner of eating disorders, compulsions and addictions, it’s even more difficult to focus on that main thing; forget about the healthy, positive things, including recovery! So much is coming at us from every side: parties, temptations, family stress and opportunities to overindulge in every possible vice and escape.

Now, who feels festive?

So, after we wade through all of that mire, we can maybe find ourselves facing Jesus. In the holiday sense, He’s difficult to miss this time of year. Baby Jesus displays are in churches, court yards and on the front lawns, usually blinking or glowing some form of Las Vegas style light. So yes, in the middle of shopping and stressing, we often “come to Jesus,” at least the plastic baby Jesus, anyway.

But what’s more challenging for us is the real and relevant encounter of Jesus truly being with us. The Bible tells us He is.

“…and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Matthew 1:23

But feeling that this time of year, especially if we struggle with our compulsions, addictions and relapses? It doesn’t seem to be so easy to embrace that Emmanuel, now, does it?  So, is this Baby Jesus, indeed, our Savior? Or is He just a decoration?

Matthew 1:23 reminds us of Jesus’ Name, Emmanuel, “God with us.” That means that as we Christmas hustle and bustle, Christmas shop and Christmas stress out about this wonderful time of year, He is right there. When we’re cheery, when we’re grumpy, He’s there. When we forget Him, when we remember Him, He’s still there. When we feel great about our lives and recovery processes, He’s there. When we have relapsed in a cataclysmic way, jeopardizing life, health, relationships and finances, not to mention, our recovery, He’s there. Therefore, can we believe beyond the Christmas decoration’s depiction? Can we believe God is really with us?

One of the biggest lies I ever believed in my eating disorders struggles was that I was abandoned by God. My own sick, perfectionistic mandates ordered me to do my life all by myself, with no room for mistakes, whatsoever. Grace? Unconditional love? Forgiveness? Acceptance? Forget about that! I gradually determined, the further into my eating disorders I sank, that I was hopeless, damned, beyond saving or loving in any possible way. I had “gone too far” for God to reach me. And because of that, God had forsaken me. I even went so far as to believe God hated me!

See yourself here? Are you battling with self-loathing, feeling abandoned and rejected right now? Is the Baby Jesus just a Christmas decoration to you, holding no real powerful application to your life and recovery? Are your imperfect, even sick thoughts calling the shots, even spiting God’s Truth? The famous talk show host, Dr. Phil McGraw, has a great question he frequently asks his guests regarding their negative choices: “How’s that working for you?”

Indeed, God tells us that our thoughts and His thoughts aren’t exactly on the same page:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

Hmmm…

Could there be a potential problem with that reality, maybe? Whether or not we want to admit it, our addictions, compulsions and disorders are of a spiritual nature. They negatively impact not only our bodies and minds, but also our spirits, the very core identity of who we are as individuals. These destructive behaviors can convince us that they are our answer to life and problems, not “God with us.” We believe the lie over God’s Truth.

And what is that Truth? It’s everything that addictions and disorders promise, but fail to deliver: love, acceptance and meaningful purpose. For instance…

“I have chosen you and have not cast you away.”

Isaiah 41:9

 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

                                                             Jeremiah 31:3             

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

And of course, the well-known and often repeated verse of John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

You may have a nativity display in your home; that manger scene may be a part of your yearly Christmas tradition. But what are you doing with Jesus during the “off season?” What do you do with Jesus in your daily life and recovery experiences when it is not Christmas? Is Jesus relevant to you, beyond a decoration or a Bible story?

We come now to the close of another calendar year. It’s a time of “new beginnings.” Dare to invite God into your life; dare to invite Him to daily, practically be with you! Jesus is relevant, as is. He doesn’t just want to merely decorate your life; He want to be in it and bless it! Are we keeping the “main thing the main thing?” Are we celebrating that?

Remember the main celebration: Emmanuel. God is with us. It’s a celebration beyond tradition; it’s God’s loving gift for us! And it’s already been done, even before we decide to love Him back. Again…

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

Emmanuel- He’s not just a statue a decoration or a myth. Emmanuel- “God is with us.”

But will we choose to be with God? Why not say yes? Why not embrace “God with us” into our lives?

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse