The Shepherds Got it Right

Grab a chair and slide it in close.
Put a soft pillow on your lap so your arms can rest.
Lean in.

Imagine we’re sitting together in a quiet place with our slippers on, comfortable in the easy way friends are, while I gently remind you …
God is good. And He’s got good things planned for you.

Maybe those words make you feel a bit twitchy. Maybe you’re thinking, Hmmm… I must have stepped out of line when they were handing out good things. Because this doesn’t feel like your current situation, and you’re having trouble seeing good things in your tomorrows.

Oh, my friend. I get that. Truly.

We’ve all been there—wanting to believe God’s promises of joy and peace, yet feeling stuck in the messiness of the past and the disappointments of today.

God knew we’d have moments like this. That’s why He told Isaiah, one of our great faith leaders, to remind us:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Here’s an important reminder.
When God says “Forget the former things,” He isn’t asking us to pretend nothing hurt. He isn’t minimizing the betrayal, the grief, the regret, or the seasons we’d rather not revisit. He knows we can’t simply forget what shaped us.

What God is inviting us to release is not the memory—but the power the past holds over us. The replaying. The rehearsing. The way we let yesterday’s disappointments quietly dictate today’s expectations.

So let’s shift our chairs around and sit next to each other. (I’m keeping my pillow on my lap because that always feels more comfortable.) May I link my arm inside of yours? There. We’re in this together.

Perhaps you’ve got so many former things taking up space in your brain that there’s little room for new things. Perhaps it’s time for a little housecleaning, to clear some clutter, and make room for fresh color and possibility. Perhaps it’s time to take God at his word and notice the new, good thing right in front of you.
Today.

So where do we start?
I think the shepherds got it right.

An angel appeared to a group of shepherds tending their sheep, announcing that Jesus had been born.
(May I just say—if an angel showed up with big news and a back-up choir of angels singing behind her, all illuminated by a brilliant light—I’d want to check it out. Wouldn’t you?)

What I love is that the shepherds didn’t overthink the moment. They didn’t dismiss it or analyze it to death. There was no, “Hmmm … that was interesting. Anyway, as I was saying before we were interrupted, let’s move the sheep to the north side of the hill to get some fresh grass.”

My goodness. No.

They simply said, “Let’s go see.”

And that—that’s where we start.

Just as Isaiah reminded us, God is still making a way in the desert—those dry, weary places where life feels hard and hope feels scarce. He’s still placing streams in the wasteland—cool, fresh, life-giving water where we least expect it.
These are miracles.
And they are promised to us.
That includes you.

But we have to notice them. Anticipate them.

Let’s be alert. Let’s be present. Let’s not let what was keep us from seeing what is and what could be. Because when we’re stuck looking backward, we often miss the new good things right in front of us.

Christmas celebrates the greatest gift of all—Jesus.
The One who meets us in our past with compassion, walks with us in our present, and lovingly leads us into a future filled with good things.

So as we get up and put our chairs back in place, tucking our lap pillows under our arms, let’s ask God together …

God, open my ears to hear the Christmas story from a new perspective this year.
Not as a story I’ve heard for years, but as an invitation to listen like the shepherds did—with openness, curiosity, and a willingness to respond.

Open my heart to receive your presence and your promises. Infuse me with the HOPE that the birth of Jesus brings.

Open my eyes to see your goodness, even though life can be messy.

Let’s go see!