Advent is in all kinds of full swing around our neck of the woods.  The Advent Calendar is out, the Tree is set up and trimmed, the stockings are hung on the wall (we don’t have a chimney), UPS is in the peak season craziness, and Christmas Music is being pumped out of every speaker we can find! (There might be a bit of hyperbole there, but you get the idea.)

One of the things that my wife has done is create a Spotify Playlist with a bunch of different songs for the season… most of it is awesome, but every once in a while a song comes on that is clearly not a Christmas song.  For example, why is Frozen’s “Let It Go” on any list of Christmas songs?

As we were on the way to our small group we had her playlist playing through the car speakers and a song came on made famous by DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt (ca 1998 for those of you who are wondering).  The movie is the story of Moses and Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.  The song, “When You Believe”, is a great celebratory song sung after Pharaoh has “let God’s children go.”  This historical event is still celebrated by many Jews during Passover, which happens right before Easter every year.  All of this adds up to the fact that “When You Believe” by Sarah Morgann should never be a Christmas song…

But then I listened to the words:

Many nights we’ve prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there’s much to fear
We were moving mountains
Long before we knew we could…

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It’s hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe,
Somehow you will…
You will when you believe.

In this time of fear
When prayer so often proved in vain
Hope seemed like a summer bird
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I’m standing here
With heart so full I can’t explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I’d say:

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It’s hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe,
Somehow you will…
You will when you believe…

In the same way that the family of Israel waited and cried out for a deliverer from their slavery in Egypt and God sent Moses, we are all stuck in our sin and in need of God sending another savior, a better savior.  We need a savior that can save us not just from our current circumstances, but for all eternity.  We need Jesus; and on Christmas we celebrate that God sent Jesus.

So now I’m here, with a full heart, knowing that God not only looked down into our fearful situations, but also STEPPED into it in a miraculous way.  This year, this song (although written to commemorate a non-Christmas event) is helping me prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.