I Have Hope: The Gift of Him

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Unto us.

He was born unto us. Given to us.

A gift.

Jesus was given to us as a gift from the Father.

He knew we needed Him.

And his name shall be called Wonderful.

Wonderful: Inspiring delight.

In my moments of disappointment, sorrow, unhappiness,

He is there offering the gift of Himself to me,

The gift of delight.

Right in the middle of the pain, depression, or misery.

He holds out to me enjoyment, happiness. In Him.

Because He is Wonderful.

Counsellor.

One who gives guidance.

I have problems; He has answers.

When I'm stuck, just absolutely stuck and I don't know what to do, His gift to me is Himself,

the One who leads us into all truth;

the One who knows the path that I take.

He offers to patiently and ever so tenderly guide me and counsel me and show me the way I should go.

Is there not a moment in every one of our lives that we just feel utterly lost: unable to figure out the answer, unsure of what to do?

Was there ever a greater gift to mankind than the Gift of an all-seeing, all-knowing Counsellor??

With this gift received into my hands, why should I ever worry again?

Mighty God.

Mighty is defined as "possessing great and impressive power or strength, especially on account of size."

Problems have a way of quickly escalating into something like a mountain that seems insurmountable.

But my God is bigger than any and every problem I am faced with. He isn't moved by or worried about them because He is in control and He is stronger than the force of all my problems and questions and pressures combined. What a gift, to have all of His grace and all of Himself offered to me in the face of my problems.

Everlasting Father.

Can we just take a second and think about each of those two words individually?

Everlasting. Never ending. Boundless.

Ahh. I can breathe a sigh of relief.

I won't ever come to a point where He says, "Okay, that's it. I've brought you this far, but that's as far as I can lead you. You're on your own from here on out." We won't ever be on our own. Emanuel is everlasting.

God is always with us. Always.

Father. How do you even define "Father"? Those who have a loving father in their life know just what a daddy-child relationship with God can look like. Those who have not had a loving father in their life know in their hearts just exactly what they've been missing, and they can know the fulfilling of that longing in God. But He is so much more than even the best of earthly fathers. He is the Originator of love, care, acceptance, protection: He thought up the whole idea. God is love. God is Father.

Everlasting Father.

A Father that never leaves. A love that never ends. A Protector who never lets go of us.

The One who gave life to us and filled out lungs with breath, continues to give us life and breath day after day after day. Always loving the hope back into us as we journey down this road of earthly life.

Prince of Peace.

It's in the middle of the postpartum nights, hormones surging and thoughts racing; when the icy fingers of panic and fear closing tightly around my mind, that I feel it the most: just how much I need the Prince of Peace to come and save me in my distress.

It's in the loud commotion of my day, in the clutter and the plans gone awry, in the toddlers having a meltdown and in the racing of the clock that won't stop ticking away while I'm running late, that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is offering again to me the gift of Himself. He's saying, "Come. Taste and see that I am good. (Psalm 34:8) Let me quiet your heart and mind in the midst of the noise."

It's in the confrontations and the misunderstandings and the disagreements with those close to us that our ruling and reigning Prince brings the gift of Peace to our very specific situations, free for the taking if we will simply ask and receive.