Immanuel - Names of Christ Advent Series
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23
As soon as you walk into hospice it smells of death. The potent smell rushing into your nostrils, filling your body with anxiety, gripping your heart with pain because you know the loved one you’re there to visit soon won’t be with you any longer. I wish I didn’t know what hospice smells like but that’s the last place I got to be with my dad for the rest of my life. 
The death of my father was the third rejection I experienced from him.
The first was when he moved out of our home when my parents decided to divorce – he made the decision in that moment that his needs were greater than our needs. It’s not right, a young girl should not have to depend on her older brothers for protection and the feeling of safety. But at least I could still be with him, even if only for a weekend at a time. The second time my dad rejected me was when we found out he was an alcoholic and he chose alcohol over me and my siblings. We told him he couldn’t be around our families any longer if he didn’t go to AA and get help. I’ll cut to the chase – he didn’t choose AA – and so he rejected us again. His wants over ours. And lastly, he died from liver failure because of his addiction to alcohol. This was his third and final rejection. He left me for good because he could only choose alcohol over everything else. Fatherless. Amaris without a father. Like the title of a biography, I could feel the words begin to shape my identity. Those words echo in my mind on the regular. For the longest time, “Amaris without a father”, felt like poison to my aching heart. The word “without” describes lack, the absence of something, or in need.
I could feel the without in my own life.
The ache in my heart, the need to be loved by a father, the lack of paternal affection, the missing granddaddy for my children were all constant reminds of the without in my life. We had prayed for my dad to repent and be healed of alcoholism for over a year. Clearly, that prayer didn’t seem to be answered. . Until, I felt God's gentle whisper telling me that He was with me through it all.
Immanuel, God with us
If we’re honest, most of us live our lives in the “without.” We live without hope. We live without mental and emotional security. We live without love and affection. We’re missing something – the thoughts run rampant in our minds. On Sunday’s we’re reminded that there is more, but Monday through Saturday we feel the lack, the ache, the missing-ness of what should be. We are prone to forget. We have amnesia, and cope with the day-to-day, forgetting what we do have and the Who that is with us. Before Jesus came. Before the Word dwelled among the people. Before there was Immanuel, God with us. It was God through the law, through the priest, or through the prophet. The God that was far or silent (the Jews didn’t hear from God for 400 years before Jesus came into the world).
No Longer Without
Over two thousand years ago a baby came into the word, and from that point forward we are given the opportunity to live with God himself. We are no longer without, we are no longer in lack, we are no longer removed from God because of a Man that humbled himself and chose us over himself. Our Jesus is with us. He washes us of our fears and shame like he washes his disciples feet. He is with us, in the joy, in the pain, in the confusion. Our Jesus is walking with us. He does not reject us like human beings do. This Christmas, remind yourself that you are NOT without. Whether your bank account be full or empty. Family reconciled or divided. And whether your marriage be rocky or solid. You are a woman that is not without. Immanuel, God is with you. Christ came and will love you until the very end. He will not leave you through sorrow or gladness. Let that rest on your spirit this holiday season. God with you. God with us.
About the Author
Amaris Beecher, the founder of She is Reclaimed, is passionate about living a life walking with God. She loves her husband, children, deep conversations with friends, and a bold lipstick. She writes in the hopes that sharing her past will give someone else a future. Let's live fully reclaimed for Jesus! Find She is Reclaimed here or on Facebook. This is the eleventh in the series of the Names of Christ.
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