After a June Colorado wildfire destroyed our home, my wife, Pam, and I settled into a rental. We are grateful for the place God has provided. One of the first mornings there, as I spent time reading and praying, I lifted my head and found that the house backed into a full view of the burned out mountainside. “Ugh! Really, God? I have to stare at that for the next year?” My heart sank, my soul was weary, and I wondered “why” on so many fronts.

The Lord spoke to me that morning, through the Scriptures, highlighting a central fact of God’s work in our world:

It is true that in the beginning God did his creating out of nothing—starting from scratch, so to speak. But since those Genesis days, because of sin’s tarnishing and unraveling influence, God has been in the business of restoring and rebuilding.

It was as if God said to me: “Doug, that hillside is my canvas—over the years to come I will be producing a masterpiece: growing new plant life, rebuilding homes, and restoring the lives of people.”

Even before Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago, a similar message was whispered to an intimate few—Jesus’ mother, father, his “Aunt Liz” and “Uncle Zeek”:

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus (which means the Lord saves), because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

As you consider the circumstances you face this Christmas, what needed restoration can you bring in humility to God? Can you trust that the Lord Jesus has the same restoring purpose and a time-proven resume displaying the might of His saving hand?