What Child Is This?

A child is born to us, a son is given to us,
    and authority will be on his shoulders.
    He will be named
    Wise Counselor, Mighty God,
    Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 

 

When I was a child, I learned that God has a plan for each of us (whether we like it or not) and God's plan for us cannot me dodged, ignored, or thwarted.  It is God's job to get us to the point where His plan for us is fulfilled.  I thought THAT was a LOT of pressure to put on a kid!  I didn't like it one bit. 

 

When I read Isaiah's passage, look at all the pressure being put on this child.  "Authority will be on his shoulders"...that's quite the burden to carry.  "Wise Counselor"....wisdom is not easily come, and people expect you to dispense wisdom every time they ask for your counsel but if the counsel is off the mark, even once, you aren't deemed wise any more.  "Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace"....THAT is way more than I could imagine any child being able to grow into.

 

When I was about age 9, I felt God nudging me toward ministry.  This was NOT what I had planned for my life.  I wanted to be!  I wanted to be a pirate, a soldier, a writer, a dreamer, or pretty much ANYTHING outside of ministry.  I fought it tooth and nail.  I did things that I just knew would disqualify me from any sort of ministry.  And now...God let me wander through most of my life (thus far) as a soldier, a writer, a dreamer, the Butler to our greyhound Abby; God let me make the blunders and the mistakes, and the missteps, and let me fall flat on my face more than a few times...but through all the experiences I thought would completely disqualify me for ministry, God was actually shaping me to minister in a rather unorthodox way. God used my experiences to help others.

 

And when we look at the Child described by Isaiah, we see God in the flesh entering not only our world, but our lives as well.

 

This Christmas, it is my prayer for each of you to appreciate the experiences God has brought you through.  Be grateful for the lessons you have learned from them. And remember that God entered this world just as we did...as a child.  What Child Is This?  The Child is the King of Kings!