I am delighted to share my latest book with you: Christmas Voices. I can’t believe that I forgot to post about it here! It is a wonderful book filled with 25 reflections written by me, alongside contributions by 40 other ‘voices’. I do have some copies available, so do contact me directly if you live in the UK and would like to buy a copy from me (happy to sign it too). It is also available on the publisher’s website. Carry on reading for a sample of the reflections…

Day 2 Stretched by a promise

Genesis 12:1–4

The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

‘I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.’

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 

God loves to speak to his people – and to give them promises. Noah, for example, was shown a rainbow as God promised never to send a flood again; Moses was given the promise that God would free his people from slavery in Egypt.

Often God’s promises make us uncomfortable, or necessitate action from us. Here, Abram was given an incredible promise – that he would become a great nation and that God would be behind him all the way – but he had to leave all he had known in order for that promise to take place. As we know, his faithfulness and hope in that promise was tested to the limit (and he made huge mistakes along the way), but God always provided – just perhaps not in the timeline Abram and those in his household wanted! Have you ever experienced that? A promise from God that you have had to cling on to and perhaps step out into in a way that is uncomfortable or slightly scary? The idea of the promises of God seem so appealing, but often the fulfilment of them stretches us in ways we couldn’t have imagined beforehand.

Too often the promise of our coming saviour is sanitised too…into a beautiful nativity scene. I am sure the reality was very different for his parents – tired and dirty, confused and disappointed that there was no room for them anywhere. Jesus was born into messy circumstances – physically but also politically and spiritually.

What reassures me is that God loves to involve us in the outworking of his promises, and he doesn’t disown us when we fail. It is incredible to think that Abram did indeed become Abraham and that through his line Jesus the messiah came. But day to day, Abram wouldn’t have seen the fulfilment of all that God had said to him, although he did receive the promised son and heir he longed for. He is mentioned in the ‘faith hall of fame’ in Hebrews 10, where it also says: ‘They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one.’

Let us not settle this Christmas season, but press on even when we feel uncomfortable.

Prayer: Lord I thank you that you give us promises; help me not to shrink when you are urging me to action or stretching me. Amen.