Ruth Clemence

On our coffee table, we have a small nativity set. Just like any surface in our home, the coffee table seems to beckon us to put more things upon it. One evening, I noticed that the nativity was concealed by all of the stuff on the table around it. What a picture it brought to my mind of how, at times, our life can be so full we miss Jesus at the centre of it. The demands, worries, fears, appointments, busyness, pressures, and more can seem to crowd out Christ. He is still very much there. But it gets harder for us to see Him. This in turn makes our overwhelm increase. Our hearts become too overcrowded.

No room at the inn

The journey to the manger began because there was nowhere else for Mary and Joseph to go. Jesus was coming! There was no doubt about it. His imminent arrival and the exact details of His birth were no surprise to God. It was all ordained for this moment in time. Prophecies pointed toward it.

Jesus took a lowly place in an animal food box. Yet, this begins His life as a man yet still fully God. He came to meet the deepest hunger pangs we could ever experience. The hunger for a relationship with the One who made us and loves us. Only He could satisfy our longings. He came to fill us with Himself for He is the Bread of Life. Every need of our heart is met in Him.

Let every heart prepare Him room

We sing ‘Joy to the World’ looking back to the glorious good news of our Saviour being born. This is an anthem to belt out with gusto as we also look forward to the return of our great King Jesus. It will be triumphant. The trumpets will resound! For every caregiver who knows what it is like to deal with overcrowded, noisy spaces with someone who has sensory processing difficulties, that seems like a perfect storm of chaos! But when Jesus returns, our senses will all become more fully alive to the majesty, the beauty, the glory, the victory, the wonder of our Lord. We will not flinch in anxiety at the heavenly host of angels or the volume of the trumpet blast. We will flock to Him — the Good Shepherd of our soul. If we follow Christ, it will be the sweet song of worship to the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God as we meet Him face to face. Can we even begin to imagine the magnificence of this joyful procession?

A room for you

If this time of year magnifies the overwhelm for you, I encourage you to lift your eyes to the hope of your heart, Jesus. He was born into our broken, dark world and knows the temptations and suffering that we experience. He is compassionate and cares for you. Yes, you. His eye is upon you with such a loving gaze that if only you knew, it would still your shaking spirit.

Our Saviour was born to die in the place of sinners, reconciling them to their Creator who loves them eternally. He overcame the grave, for death had no power over Him. He rose again and ascended to His Father’s right hand. He intercedes for His people, praying for us as we persevere and hold fast in faith. Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for you. Our eternal future is secure because of Christ’s finished work on the cross. The presence of Christ is the ultimate present that never stops giving. He is with us by His Spirit, and He Has also gone ahead of us to glory as our Brother and our Friend.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:15-21

This post first appeared on my Substack ‘Anchored Hope For Her Heart’. I hope it encourages you here, too!