Christmas is a season when we remember that this world is not our home. Not only that, but we recall that this earthly reality is only a dim reflection of the true reality beyond time and space. When Jesus came to earth as a baby in a manger, He broke into time and He broke into our very brokenness so that we could break out of this world and into eternity. In short, He turned our world upside down and inside out. 

God’s economy is not our economy. On the one hand, His wealth surpasses any worldly wealth imaginable. When we call on His resources, we are calling on the God of a million galaxies. Nothing is impossible for Him, the Owner and Creator of all things. When Jesus fed the 5,000, He did so out of the resources of a limitless God. He could as easily have fed 1,000,000 on the hillside that day. 

On the other hand, though, God wastes nothing. In fact, He transforms all the trash of our lives – our pain and loss – and creates life and hope and redemption in the midst of it. Judy and I have a large recycle bin from the recycling company, and I’m consistently shocked when the two of us create enough recyclable materials to fill it up in a week’s time. It’s amazing how much “trash” can be recycled into something useful again. God is the ultimate recycler. Whenever there is brokenness, poverty, sin, loss, or hurt in my life, He is capable of redeeming and restoring so that the end result is more beautiful than the original, lost product could ever have been.

Wherever your need this year, and whatever pain and demands press heavily on you, remember that our God is the God of limitless resources who is committed to redeeming and restoring all things for His glory and for our good. And that through his grace he as sacrificed for us the we too may sacrifice and be generous for others. This Christmas may He bless you with the faith and hope of Jesus’ birth – and his sacrifice and gift to the world.