Jesus’ birth was no accident; that’s something we’ve been really driving home over the past few weeks. His arrival was foretold in the Old Testament numerous times in psalms and songs, from prophets, and from God Himself. And since everything from his lineage, to the place and circumstances of Jesus’ birth were already in scripture, we could be sure that when it actually happened, we’d have the ability to check and prove that this birth was the arrival of the Messiah God had promised us. Without this foreshadowing, we might have accepted any liar that wanted to masquerade and exploit themselves as the promise of God.

For church this week, Sam and I decided to go to an in-person service. During the sermon, the pastor started talking about Paul. Specifically, how Paul and some of the people that traveled with him went through some pretty severe persecution for being preachers and teachers for Christ. And while I can agree with what he was trying to say, which was that Paul and his friends counted their suffering as joy for the cause of Christ and that suffering was the worldly price for Godly obedience; I didn’t agree with his delivery of the point.

n this season, we celebrate Jesus, our Savior being born in a manger in Bethlehem. Our God needed to come to this world to save us– His people– and He decided to come in the form of a baby through the virgin Mary. In this season of family and holiday excitement, it can be very easy to forget what we are truly celebrating and that is one of the most beautiful of miracles the world has ever seen.

I think as Christians, we sometimes feel this constant pressure of having to be perfect. We set these unrealistic expectations for ourselves of having to always be joyful and thankful and thriving in our walks with the Lord, yet the reality is, it’s not always like that. We come to the point of fearing struggle and hate to admit when we are facing it.

Millennials, we’ve all heard it before: in a world of constant connection, we’re disconnected, we’re transient, and we’re disjointed. And those that are looking to hurl the first stone resoundingly blame technology. But here’s the thing, it’s not just millennials. The struggle to connect seems to be the common theme for all of us. Trust me, I get it. There’s not a day that goes by that I can avoid the newsfeeds; especially when most of my young career has centered around social media and new tactics to be seen in a world of endless content.