12/16/2025
As we approach Christmas and reflect on the day Jesus was born I am reminded that there are people out there having a hard time accepting or believing the truth of the Christmas story... or any part of Jesus' story for that matter.
They want to, but something inside them prevents them from truly believing the story is real. To them the story is just a story and the reality of it is merely an afterthought, like that of a fairy tale... I was that person for a while.
For me, it was my analytical mind. A mind filled with curiosity, and questions on how everything works. A mind always needing proof or a way to measure, and always needing to know the fine details. And at one point in my life, this thought process paralyzed my faith.
I grew up in a Christian household. I always knew about Jesus and I accepted him as my savior in my early teens. I was heavily involved in my church, dedicating many evenings and weekends to serving. But, as I got older, I got married, we had our first child and I started to understand the gravity of my new role in my new daughter's life, the role of a leader.
I wanted to her to grow up with Jesus as the foundation of her life... But then I realized, or at least it felt at the time, that the foundation of my faith was non-existent. My analytical, detail-starved mind felt deep down that I didn't really know if I TRUTHFULLY believed the details of Jesus' story. Of course at the time, I COULD SAY I DID... but at my very core, DID I ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT?
"Wait, so Jesus' mom was a virgin... that's not possible!"
"So you're telling me, a man died... and then was brought back from the dead DAYS later?"
"It's not possible to walk on water..."
It's absurdity! But now I've been thrust into this leadership role in my daughter's life to guide her and I didn't want to lead her wrong. So this is something I needed to address. If it wasn't real... How could I lead her if at my VERY core, I wasn't absolutely certain myself? So, I started to address it using my science-minded nature and I started to question it all... I didn't expect it to shake my faith.
Years passed without resolution and at some points my faith felt completely non-existent. It was exhausting and depressing. But even in those times, it was important to me to continue to go through the motions to set a proper foundation for her. I was protecting her from my struggles as I continued to wrestle and question. That was hard! :)
But, fast forward a bit and here's where I ended up. There are many theories about where we all came from. I'm not talking just about humans specifically, but pure existence... everything. The Earth, the sun, the galaxies, the universe, and ...whatever the universe is in. The fact that there's physical matter for me to touch, experience and even think about... It all started from somewhere, some scenario, or some conditions. Many theories try to explain it and as I wrestled with them I realized that it didn't matter.
We always run into a logical problem. Where did the conditions come from? Where did even logic come from? Whatever explanation we come up with, whatever scenario or conditions we come up with, no matter how far down the rabbit hole you go, something/someone had to cause those conditions for them to exist.
Do this for me. Hold your hand up in front of you... Look at it. It exists. It exists in a world of atoms, that exist on a planet, in a universe full of matter. It's real and it came from somewhere. It didn't just randomly appear from nothingness... though some theories say it did. Even with those theories "conditions" needed to exist somewhere for it start... There's always something that needs to exist outside the universe for it to work. The creation can not be the creator. So no matter how far you go, there's always a need for something more. And I believe that to be God. Your hand is here. It's real and it exists and Creation is proof enough for my analytical mind. And if God can make Creation, he can bend it to His will and perform miracles inside of it at any point, including a baby being born from a virgin.
So, if you're currently going through a similar struggle, bring those questions to God. He's certainly big enough to handle them. You're not going to hurt his feelings. He will meet you where you're at. He met me and has given me (and my science-mind) the comfort of being OK with not having all the answers.
My hope and prayer for us as we approach this Christmas, as we hear the story about a baby born from a virgin mother, is that the story becomes MORE than just a story to you... but that it becomes something as REAL to you as the hand you held up earlier. Something that EXISTED and actually happened. Where God literally came to Earth only to end up giving his life to save us. May the reality of that set in for you... So that you may experience the real joy of Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!
