Christmas Devo

Waiting & Longing

Before we read the Christmas story, we need to understand something important:

Christmas didn’t come out of nowhere.

For hundreds of years, God’s people were waiting. Waiting for rescue. Waiting for peace. Waiting for God to step in and make things right.

The Old Testament is full of longing — promises that one day, God Himself would come.

One of the clearest promises sounds like this:

Have you ever had to wait for something really important?

That feeling of waiting? That’s how God’s people felt before Christmas….

But i think it is important to see that God didn’t leave them guessing. He made promises.

One promise said this in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Now this book of the bible and this book of the bible was written 700 to 750 years before Jesus was ever literlally born.

That promise means:

Someone is coming

Someone who understands

Someone who brings peace

Why do you think people wanted peace so badly?

(Prompts if needed:)

Life was stressful

There was fighting and fear

People felt lost

They wanted God close again

They weren’t just waiting for life to be easier.

They were waiting for God.

They wanted God:

To be close

To help

To guide them

They were waiting for Emmanuel —which means “God with us.”

And then — after all that waiting —

God shows up.

Not loud. Not flashy. But Humbly.

And so i just want to read what it looked like when God finally came.

Luke 2:1–7 ESV

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Think about this.

For generations, people were waiting for God to act. They wanted God to deal with sin. To deal with evil. To deal with everything broken in the world — including themselves.

They were waiting for this Messiah- or savior

And when God finally comes, He doesn’t come as a judge first. He comes as a human first.

A Baby…

That matters.

Because God isn’t fixing the world from the outside. He’s fixing it from the inside.

By becoming a baby, God is saying: “I know what it’s like to be human.” “I know weakness.” “I know hunger.” “I know pain.” “I know what you live with every day.”

This is God choosing to fully enter the human story — not to avoid suffering, but to eventually carry it.

That’s Emmanuel.

What This Means for Us (We Are Still Waiting)

The people in the Old Testament were waiting for God to come.

At Christmas — He came. That’s what we read in Luke 2.

But here’s something important: The story didn’t end there.

Jesus came once — and the Bible says He will come again.

So in a way, we’re waiting again too.

We’re waiting for:

Things to be made right

Injustice to end

Pain to stop

Death to be defeated

Question: What are some things in the world — or in your own life — that still feel broken or unfinished?

Here’s the difference between their waiting and ours:

They were waiting hoping God would come. We are waiting knowing God already did.

Christmas reminds us that God keeps His promises. The first coming tells us the second is real.

Emmanuel Is the Meaning of Christmas

So what is Christmas really about?

It’s not just:

Lights

Gifts

Food

Music

Those things are fine — but they’re not the point.

The point is Emmanuel.

Emmanuel means “God with us.”

That means:

God with us in pain

God with us in confusion

God with us in waiting

God with us right now

Jesus is called:

Wonderful Counselor — He understands us

Prince of Peace — He makes peace between us and God

Christmas is God saying: “I didn’t stay far away.” “I stepped into your world.” “I’m with you.”

And because of that: We don’t wait alone. We don’t suffer alone. We don’t hope alone.

Final question (no pressure to answer out loud): What would it look like for you to trust Emmanuel — God with you — right now?