As we enter the season of Advent, I brought back a post from eight years ago (with a little editing).

I still remember our first Christmas with our children. It was an awesome season filled with a special wonder and joy. Our long season of prayerful expectation was now replaced with three precious lives come to share life with us. What a wonderful Christmas that was and what wonderful gifts from God they were and continue to be. We are so blessed.

There was a time when we wondered if we would ever see the blessing of children in our lives. We had no doubts in God, but our human nature grew weary in waiting. It seemed like we were stuck in a season of expectation that had no end. We were not alone, and we were not the first.

For centuries people waited for God to fulfill the promise of a savior. They heard and received the prophecies with great hope and faith, but they too began to wonder, “How long, O Lord? How long?” Generation after generation waited for the day when God would fulfill the promise and life would be forever changed. That is why the Gospel writer Matthew wrote, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets…” (Mt. 1:22)

Matthew had the joy of declaring the prophecy fulfilled. Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, was the living promise awaited for so long. In this precious life was God in flesh, come in human form that we might be saved through Him. Jesus was Immanuel, for He was, God with us. The expectation of multitudes was replaced by elation. The time of fulfillment had come.

Many of us come to this special season knowing that behind all of the parties and presents, there is an inner heart of expectation that cries, “How long?” We are seeking the fulfillment of God’s promise in our lives and we wonder if it will ever be more than a dream. At times the celebrations may even make it worse. We wait and we hope, wondering when God will remember the promise in us.

Take heart! In this season of miracles is the evidence that God keeps His word. God never failed to fulfill the promise and never will. There is no vision placed within you that God will not bring to completion. There is no Word of God written that will not be fulfilled. Here, in the season of Advent, we remember that God brings great gifts in small packages, and the waiting is worth it. These are more than pretty presents, they are treasures that bring life. Here, looking toward the face of Jesus we see the promise and the answer.

This is a season of anticipation and celebration. For some it is the celebration of promises fulfilled, for others, the celebration comes from knowing the answers are on the way. God has given us the deposit of His Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance. Lift your eyes and gaze into the face of the one who is here to declare that fulfillment of the promise in on its way. You have a destiny in Jesus Christ, and God is with you, empowering you to reach that destiny.

May your Advent and Christmas season be blessed with the fullness of Christ and may you see in Him the heart of God leading you to the place of blessing.