Today Cathy Canen of VCLD Network shares with us how a trip to Israel changed her perspective and her holidays.
It was this past October actually, when I visited Israel, but it changed my Christmases forever.
The God of Christmas
The most remarkable thing about visiting Israel was seeing the places where Jehovah God proved Himself to His people.
Christmas still does that. It’s God proving Himself to me and you and every person who ever lived that He means it when He says He loves us. God proved His faithfulness and love for us all through the Scriptures, and I saw His love in a fresh way with each site I visited.
He meant it when He revealed His Truthfulness, His faithfulness, His constant Presence, His deliverance from all fear, and so I trust Him to be the Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, and the true Prince of Peace. He surely has been born to us, and abides with us as literally as that land is there.
I saw how God proved His love for His people at David & Goliath’s battlefield:
I sensed it when I stood on the top of Mt. Carmel, where Elijah waited on God to send the rain, where He had proven Himself to be the True God in front of His challengers, the priests of Baal, and as I looked out over the valley of Megido, where the Shunamite woman went to Elijah as quick as she could and reported, “I am well,” when her son had just died. She knew God would be good to His Word.
I sensed Him proving His steadfast love when I visited the Garden of Gethsamane, where Jesus, being God, felt His impending crucifixion and the horrible separation from His Father.
I sensed God proving His faithfulness when I visited the caves of En Gedi, where David hid from King Saul. David was safe despite severest danger. That story took on a whole new meaning when I saw that place.
I also sensed God’s authenticity when I saw the Caves at Qumran. God had decided that it was time for us to find the Dead Sea Scrolls at an appointed time in our lifetime. And who did He send to retrieve them? Shepherd boys again. (God has a special place in His heart for shepherd boys!)
A Christmas Wish for You
My wish for you is that this Christmas you may also come to know the Child of Bethlehem, the Shepherd of your soul, the King of Kings in a new and personal way. For then, Christmas will be forever changed for you as well.