Read: Matthew 1:18-25
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14)
Some things always happen the same way. The sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. Spring turns into summer turns into fall. A baby grows into a man or a woman; a man and a woman produce a baby. This is the way of the world.
Except once. One time in the history of the world, a baby was conceived in a wholly unexpected way. Before she came together with her betrothed, a young woman named Mary “was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18). Although Isaiah had prophesied hundreds of years before that a virgin would conceive, Joseph was still caught off guard. Until an angel appeared to him in a dream, Joseph could not understand that the ancient prophecy was being fulfilled by his own fiancée. How could anyone have expected Isaiah’s words to come to pass in that particularly miraculous and utterly unprecedented way? But Isaiah’s prophecy contained a new name for God—Immanuel, “God with us” (v. 23)—and when God draws near, unexpected things happen. “God with us” meant, first of all, that God was with Mary. Even growing within Mary. What a totally unexpected surprise.
How has God surprised you lately? How are you longing for God to draw near? How have you seen evidence that Jesus is present, even now, within you? This Advent season, watch for God to show up to you in unexpected ways.
As you pray, ask God to surprise you with his nearness.
About the Author
Sarah Sanderson is the author of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate. She lives with her husband and their four teenage children in Oregon.
