Hidden Gems in the Christmas Story: Many Miraculous Births

by David Chadwick

There are so many hidden gems in the Christmas story. Often overlooked little treasures God has placed to stir up our faith and renew our hope.

Nothing generates excitement like a birth announcement. A gender reveal party. The coming of a new baby! I have experienced this first hand with the birth of Marilynn’s and my three kids and soon to be ten grandkids. It never gets old. Each time a new life comes on the scene, the excitement swells! And it feels like the world has new hope.

This is especially true when you have had to wait a long time for a baby. Year after year of faith. Believing. Trusting. Marilynn and I know this firsthand. We waited years and years for our first child. Finally, God came through!

Some of the BIble’s most significant characters had babies at older ages. They had to wait for and contend for the promise of children. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years. Jacob and Rebecca had to wait a long time, to the point where she said, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1). Samson was born to aging parents. Hannah waited, cried out, and begged the Lord for Samuel (1 Samuel 1).  And each child was used magnificently by the Lord.

And, of course, in the Christmas narrative, there are Zechariah and Elizabeth. They waited and waited and waited. Elizabeth is even described as being hunched over, thus showing how old she was. But God finally gave them John the Baptist. A significant character in the Christmas story. John the Baptist was Jesus’s cousin and was born just six months before him.

John the Baptist paved the way for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Born to parents in old age, his birth was a miracle that led to Jesus - the ultimate miracle.

Dear friends, don’t ever give up! Don’t lose heart! Maybe you, too, are begging God for a child. Your age is not a hindrance for the Lord. He is all powerful. Keep trusting him.

Your Christmas miracle may be just around the corner.