Angels We Have Heard on HighSample

A CALL TO PROVIDE

Luke mentions the Holy Spirit six times in his record of the Christmas story. It’s a reminder that Advent and Christmas are wrapped in the activity and working of the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon Mary,” but it also says “that the power of the Most High will overshadow” her.

Overshadow is translated from the Greek episkiazo which carries the sense of the holy, powerful presence of God. It’s the same word that describes the cloud that covered the tent when the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle in the Old Testament.

God’s presence through the Holy Spirit is going to be so thick and so at work that it will be clear that something holy is happening in our midst.

The Spirit of God is not static. It’s active, creative, and productive.

Genesis 1:2 says that “the earth is without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

At creation, the Spirit was hovering…. And life soon abounds.

Over Mary, the Spirit was hovering… and life soon abounds.

N.T. Wright says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon Mary, enabling her (as the Spirit always does) to do and be more than she could by herself. But at the same time, the ‘power of the Most High’ will overshadow her. This is something different: God Himself, the Creator, will surround her completely with his sovereign power.”

God’s power from outside and the indwelling of the Spirit within together result in things being done that would have been unthinkable any other way.

Gabriel reminds Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

The fact that nothing is impossible with God is one of the most hopeful statements of the entire Bible.

What is your “impossible” this Christmas that the Lord wants to remind you is not impossible with Him?

Is your “impossible” a situation at work with a boss or colleague? Or at home, with a spouse or a child or the family budget?

Is your “impossible” a slate of responsibilities that feel crippling and consuming?

What if this Christmas is a reminder that nothing is impossible when the Savior is on the scene?

The call of Advent is a call to provide. To provide space for the spirit of God to take up residence within our lives and begin to work.

What might you ask God to produce in you as you answer His call?

May we provide all of who we are to all of who He is in this Advent season.