You Bring the Present: A Women’s Christmas Devotional Sýnishorn

Rahab: Bah Humbug

We tend to put a lot of pressure on women around the holidays. And the women who don’t rise to those expectations are considered a “hot mess.”

We see the one that shows up to the Christmas party with chips and a gift card from the gas station she stopped at on the way there. The one who puts her kid’s Halloween candy in their Christmas stockings. She may be the black sheep of the family that shows up to Christmas with baggage that is fuller than her carry-on luggage. 

This Christmas let’s reconsider the “hot mess.” She may be trying to stretch every penny on a budget, she may be carrying trauma no one understands, she may be exhausted and doing her best. Some may look at her and think, “she is a little scroogie,” but there is no room for judgement because regardless of her circumstances, she is bringing the present. 

Her family is loved, she shows up for her friends, the spirit of Jesus that lives inside of her is fierce and protective. For her, Christmas is a time to focus on what is really important—her people. 

Rahab, the next woman we discuss in Jesus’ family tree would have been considered the hottest of messes. She was the definition of marginalized. She was a woman; she was a Canaanite (enemy of the Jewish people trying to get to the promised land); and she was a prostitute. 

At this time Joshua was in charge of bringing the Jews to the Promised Land, but the city of Jericho stood in their way. So he sent two spies to check it out. When the king heard that they were there, Rahab hid them on her roof. She had heard of the split Red Sea, she had heard of how the Lord was protecting them, and she decided to believe in the God of the Jewish people. So, this was her chance to save her family. She snuck the two spies out of the city, but as they left, she told them: “ please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

So they did; when the city of Jericho was taken, Rahab’s family was spared and her son Boaz would carry on the family line of Jesus Christ. 

How beautiful is the redemptive story of the gospel? The gift of Christmas, the miracle of our savior, the perfect Christ and hope of the world, was carried by the most marginalized by society, the one who bore the responsibility for the safety of her family, and chose to believe in the God that no one else in her city believed. 

This Christmas let’s link arm in arm with our women who are shrouded in “Bah Humbug.” Notice their courage to show up when it’s hard. Understand that regardless of the baggage they carry, they are seen, known, and loved by Jesus who didn’t just die for the lost and weary, but used the lost and the weary to bring Christmas to the world. They bring the present, because they carry the presence of Jesus in their hearts, and that is a light that shines regardless of the shape of the bulb that holds it. Ladies, keep bringing the present.