Great comfort at Christmas

One amazing thing about traveling the road of hardship is how frequently you find hidden treasures on familiar ground. Susan's brain tumor journey is hard. It truly is a matter of life and death with its ultimate outcome waiting in one of two places – healing (and Heaven later) or Heaven directly. Since we are confident in the goodness of God, we're also confident in the goodness of the outcome he has in store for us, which ever it may be. But in the meantime of uncertainty, there's work to be done, discomfort to push through, fear to cast out, and doubt to dispel, all in the context of Susan fighting brain cancer as her loved ones do what we can to help. The journey yields rewards in faith and character that will have lasting effect. But still, it's hard. Our hope for a better day in the future is what sustains us.
Just when we need the inspiration, it's just like God to provide an example for us in the Christmas story I've heard hundreds of times. One major theme is the humble nature of Jesus' birth – poor, quiet, and isolated, so out of place for the King of Kings. But defying expectations was normal for Jesus. He fulfilled Messianic prophecies to the letter but was not the political ruler most people expected. Focusing on doing the will of his Father, he bucked a religious establishment steeped in legalism. Embodying the authority of the Creator, he challenged the government who feared his power and envied his allure. Ultimately, these religious and political leaders converged to bring charges that resulted in Jesus' execution on a cross. So the life of Jesus that confounded most observers came to a perplexing end. But far from a failure, his 33 years on earth were just the first phase of a divine plan implemented at God's great expense. Jesus succeeded in revealing God's heart to us and offering salvation by his death as atonement for our sin. Even the greatest skeptic cannot ignore the impact Jesus has had on human history, affirming it with every check written this month – December, 2009 AD.
The treasure I found on familiar ground this Christmas? I realized God himself has done just what we're doing – enduring the hardships of this broken world and delaying gratification until a better day arrives. Right now we live between the advents, after Jesus' first coming and before his second coming. But his second coming will not be humble like the first. Next time it will fit the King of Kings and will be a game-changer, as overwhelming in power and majesty as his first entry came in mystery and obscurity. If his first episode with us in bodily form was costly, sacrificial groundwork, his next will be triumphant dominion. Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11 say it well: "Every knee will bow." Along with the fullness of his kingdom, Jesus will receive the reward he's been waiting to collect – the people he came to save. I don't know what's more amazing, that he's so crazy about us he would go to such lengths to give us eternal life, or that he's so patient he'll work his plan for thousands of years to get the greatest harvest. Either way, God redefines the term "delayed gratification." His patience provides an astounding contrast at Christmas when time seems compressed, buying and consuming become frenetic, and we reduce ourselves to the instant pleasures of getting, having, tasting and doing.
Back to the brain tumor journey – we're still on it. There's no fast forward. We live each day with the weight of a hard situation. So do other cancer patients, farmers with drought-laden fields, the unemployed, the dream-deferred, and so on. This is the stuff of life. But God knows all about it because he's walked in our shoes. He draws close with true empathy and whispers a promise, laced with comfort: "Everything's going to be okay. You can do it. I will help you. Just a while longer..." He knows what it's like to wait.