day 795: Immanuel (updated)

"...and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"

As we march into the closing days of 2011, many of us are taking some time, before 2012 shows up, to look back over our shoulders and assess the year. It has not been an easy last three years for anyone in the work world. Much has changed and we've had to change with it. If there was a time that has tested so many people in the workplace, it was long before most of were working or alive. Those that remember the Great Depression are the only ones who have seen this much sweeping change and uncertainty within such a short time frame. When there is this much turmoil, we are all affected and that impact shows up in us. I reflect on the people I know who along with their job struggles have had troubles also show up at home in their families, marriages and personal lives. Work is hard enough without the extra emotional charge of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Many of us are winding it up this week and will try and take some vacation between the holidays and with that comes the extra stress of being away and trying to keep up. This is also something to be managed for if we aren't cognizant of this extra amount of pressure it can really start the holiday break off on the wrong foot. It's kind of like the movie "Home Alone" when the family is so caught up in the rush and the stress of the moment that they forget who they have left behind. It makes a classic movie, but it doesn't make good life story.

In these challenging times, we can be just like that family who left Kevin at home sleeping, except in all of the rush, stress, pressures and worry, we tend to leave instead, God behind and then when we feel too far away with no way of turning back, we scream out, "Where are you God?", when it was us, not Him, who left Him home in the first place. This is the week when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who took on another important name for all us to remember; "...and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" In these last few days before the Christmas break, don't forget that Immanuel is there with you. In His coming, he guarantees that He is with us at all times, never to be truly left behind, only diminished by us when we put ourselves ahead of Him. Can we close this week with us bringing God, Immanuel, back to work with us and make the commitment for next year to have Him with us every day!

Reference: Matthew 1:23 (New Living Testament)