Surprise! Christmas is Always Unexpected: Family Devotional for Christmas Day
- Annie Peissner
- Dec 19, 2024
- 4 min read
Imagine this...
You’re invited to a birthday party with a twist — you have to guess whose birthday it is. You’re told it’s a very special celebration for a very important guest. Naturally, you start looking around the room, scanning the faces of everyone there.
“Surely, the birthday guest will stand out,” you think to yourself.
Maybe it’s the person dressed in the nicest clothes? But no, that’s not it. Maybe it’s the one surrounded by people, laughing and full of energy? But no, that’s not it either.
Then you notice someone with messy hair — clearly not them, right? Surely, someone being celebrated would take the time to brush their hair. Your eyes shift to someone in plain, ordinary clothes. No way it’s them, right? A birthday guest would be dressed to impress!
One by one, you rule people out until, to your surprise, the guest of honor is revealed. It’s the person with the unbrushed hair! Unexpected, right? You’re left a little stunned. It’s not at all what you pictured.
Did you know that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’s birthday? It’s the day we remember and honor the moment God Himself entered our world. But here’s the surprising part: just like the birthday guest in our story, Jesus didn’t arrive in a way anyone expected. Jesus’s quiet, humble arrival wasn’t just unexpected — it was almost unnoticed. The Bible puts it this way:
“He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him.” John 1:10
Imagine that. The Creator of everything — mountains, oceans, stars, and skies — walks among us, and most people don’t even realize it. John the Baptist, one of Jesus’s closest friends and followers, once said, “Right here, in the crowd, is someone you do not recognize.” (John 1:26) When people thought about a coming king, they likely pictured someone powerful, majestic, and impossible to miss. Maybe a royal figure in fine robes or someone with a glowing face and fiery eyes. But when Jesus came, He didn’t look like any of that. Instead, He was born as a baby, and His first bed was a manger — a feeding trough for animals. His "royal audience" was a group of shepherds from the fields. He wasn’t flashy. After all, how can a baby be flashy?
Sometimes, we’re so focused on looking for something "big" or "grand" that we miss Him right in front of us. We’re looking for someone in royal robes, but He’s with the poor. We’re looking for someone surrounded by crowds, but He’s with the lonely. We’re looking for the grand entrance, but He’s in the quiet places — the ordinary places too! As we celebrate Christmas this year, let’s open our eyes a little wider. God may not show up in the way we expect, but that’s just like Him, isn’t it? God shows up in the small, quiet, and unexpected places. Perhaps it’s time to put away our cell phones, turn off our TVs, and quiet our hearts so that we can hear from Him. Perhaps it’s time to gather and give to those who are lonely and in need. This is what Christmas is all about — searching for and finding God in meek, lowly places. If we search in the right places, we will find Him.
But this isn't the only surprise of Christmas:
Have you ever woken up on Christmas to find a gift better than you ever could have expected? Before Jesus was born, the people of God had one big lingering question. They knew that, overall, they had not been faithful to God, and they wondered if God was finally going to start "keeping score." Here’s what the Psalmist wondered in Psalm 77:7-9:
“Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?”
For many people, the holidays often bring up these feelings of wondering if God might be upset with them. Perhaps it's because there’s this popular story we’re told during this time— the story of Santa Claus. We’re told he’s watching, keeping a list, and checking it twice to find out who's naughty or nice. And the naughty children? They won’t wake up on Christmas to a stocking full of joy but rather a lump of coal. The naughty children will "get what they deserve."
Maybe you think you’re one of those naughty children. Maybe you think you’ll get what you deserve. But God has a different idea. The most beautiful, absurd surprise of Christmas is waking up to God’s gift of unending grace, offered through Jesus who was born as a baby for us! It’s discovering that God isn’t mad at us and He isn’t keeping score. He’s not against us — He’s for us. And His gift isn’t just for some people; it’s for all people. Lamentations 3:22 answers the Psalmist’s questions and says: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! ”
This is the surprise that changes everything. This Christmas, may we be the ones who notice Him. May we see Him in the quiet, humble, and ordinary places. And may we unwrap the most astonishing gift of all — the unending, unshakable love of God.
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