ADVENT DEVOTIONAL | Day 11 | God With Us

READ
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

REFLECT
Have you ever felt like everything was unraveling and you didn’t know what the future would hold? That was the feeling in Israel when God gave this promise through Isaiah. As the people faced national fear and spiritual uncertainty, God spoke this word through His prophet to assure His people that He had not abandoned them. He would come near. He would be with them.

About 700 years later, God fulfilled this promise when a virgin named Mary gave birth to a son (Matt. 1:23). In Jesus, God drew close—not as a distant ruler, but as a child who would grow up among ordinary people, feeling the weight of ordinary struggles. In Jesus, we see a God who walks the same roads we walk, who knows the complexity of being human, and who meets us with compassion rather than condemnation.

And the promise of Immanuel didn’t end at Bethlehem or even at Jesus’ ascension. Jesus said when He went away that He would send the Spirit to not only be God with us, but God in us. The Holy Spirit is present in our joys and our disappointments, in our questions and uncertainties, and in the quiet corners of our lives where we’re not sure anyone else sees. He strengthens, comforts, convicts, and guides.

This Advent, remember: you are not alone. The God who came near has stayed near. He is with you today.

RESPOND
* Where in your life right now do you most need to remember that God has not abandoned you, but is present with you through His Spirit?

* Take a moment and ask God to help you sense His nearness in the places where you feel uncertain or overwhelmed. Invite the Holy Spirit to comfort, convict, and guide you as you walk through this season.