He made himself nothing...

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, 

he humbled himself 

and became obedient to death -

even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:5-7

When God became flesh, He wasn't welcomed into the world with much fanfare.  Instead, the Creator began His dwelling among His created as a tiny baby born in a stable.  It was a humble beginning, followed by a humble life and a humble death.  And, it was that willingness to be broken...to be killed...by the ones He made that made eternal life possible for us. 

And yet, I think I can live my life apart from Him.  No longer do I sense that desperate need I felt in the hospital, and I no longer turn to Him for help just to make it through the day.  I haven't hungered for the Word as I did before, and no longer does prayer seem as important to me as breathing.

I miss my baby.  Tonight, I am really missing how much the Lord used Jude to drive me to Himself.  There is so much grace in suffering.  There is so much beauty in how everything peripheral and unimportant is pushed aside and we see more clearly than ever the faithfulness of our Lord and His ability to sustain us and strengthen us.  Through suffering, we can see that He is who He says He is.

I need Him.  Yet, in my pride, I subtly begin to think that I don't.  In my comfort, I live my life as if I have everything under control...under my control.  I don't want to live under that illusion.  I don't want to be comfortable.  I want to walk in dependence upon Him...and see His hand at work all around me.

Over the next few days, I am going to take a break from blogging and use the extra time to seek Him.  I want to simply enjoy my Lord and my family as we celebrate the incarnation.

Merry Christmas!