Ginny Owens – The Christmas Interruption

As this noise reaches a fever pitch, I step back and remember the ultimate interruption. When God said, “It’s time to break the chains of sin and death. To turn the world upside down.” I’m glad Mary and Joseph were brave enough to embrace their interruption, though Jesus came at a most inconvenient time for them—just as they were married, and after a long, stressful day of travel.

Perhaps they understood what we often miss. That God so wanted to be with us, to interrupt our lives of darkness and doubt, that He’d come from Heaven to walk with us and take the weight of the world off our shoulders. He is Emanuel, God with us, interrupting our lives with His love, His light, and His whispers of “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34).

This Christmas, I want to embrace the interruption. To allow Emanuel’s presence to lead me away from managing my time and work to giving generously—even sacrificially—of gifts and time. I want Christmas to interrupt my neediness and replace it with an awareness of the needs around me, which I could help meet. And to rest at His feet, allowing His love to move me and His gentle voice to be louder than my noise. My prayer for my heart and yours is that we embrace the Christmas interruption as we did when we were kids—as a miracle sent from Heaven delivering excitement that’s contagious, generosity that’s endless, and a hope that keeps us holding on expectantly for the day when we finally meet the King of Christmas face to face.