Expecting | Pastor John Hardie

From the Pregnancy Center 2022 Christmas Devotional

My wife, Melanie and I recently entered the hallowed realm of grandparenting. Two precious one-year olds now populate the “Photos” folder in our phones—a boy and girl. Fisher and Kylie.

Before they were born, our daughters loved to stand side by side, comparing their protruding bellies, imagining how important the two cousins would be to each other. “They’ll be life-long friends!” Oh, happy expectation!

In his gospel, Luke tells us about two other babies and what happened when Mary was expecting. “In those days Mary arose and went to a town in Judah. As she entered the house of Zechariah she greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Luke 1:39-41

John and Jesus were cousins. Moreover, each were a vital part of God’s plan for salvation. Even before they were born, they changed their mother’s lives. Elizabeth had felt old and empty. Now she’s expecting a child! When Mary walked through her door, baby John did a backflip, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

When the babes became men, they didn’t minister together, but each was ever in the other’s thoughts, for each of their ministries depended on the other’s.

A few weeks ago, our grandbabies came to our house for a visit. When Fisher’s parents put him in his car seat to leave, Kylie’s parents carried her over to “say goodbye”. Neither of these children can talk, but Kylie looked intently at Fisher and suddenly leaned way over—almost out of her father’s arms—reaching out to Fisher as if to say, “We belong to each other.” It was so touching. We all saw it and were moved.

The stories of John and Jesus and Kylie and Fisher make me marvel at the mystery of who God brings into our lives. We never know who is going to come, or when, and become a profoundly important person to us.

Expecting is good—especially as we prepare for Christmas. We don’t have to be pregnant to be expectant. Jesus came into the world to reconcile man to God, and people to people. Only in Him do we find the grace to heal our terrible estrangements and live as the family of God.

This is what God wants. This is what God has planned. Bursting through the door of our life just might be a person sent to us from God Himself. This is what it means to be expecting.