The Wonder of Christmas When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

Christmas is beautiful—but it’s also brutal. Holy—but heavy.

In this Christmas episode of Real Moms Real Faith, Jenna Marie Masters invites moms to slow down—not toward sentiment or nostalgia, but toward truth. The real Christmas story doesn’t meet us in perfection. It meets us in pain, confusion, and places that don’t make sense.

Why did God choose blood and labor instead of a palace?
 Why did salvation enter the world through suffering?
 And can we trust God when He doesn’t save us the way we expect?

Whether you’re overwhelmed, discouraged, or questioning God’s plan, this episode will remind you that everything God allows and does is birthed out of love and mercy—even when it doesn’t make sense.

Transcript

Welcome And Christmas Reset

SPEAKER_00 0:08

This is Jenna Marie Masters with the Real Moms Real Faith Podcast. I am so glad you're here so you can be encouraged to trust God with all the things one day at a time. Hi, I'm so glad you are here because I have some stuff to share with you that just got me so excited today about the Bible and just studying God's Word.

Beauty And Weight Of Christmas

SPEAKER_00 0:26

As we step into the Christmas season, I want us to just slow down, not towards like sentiment, not towards nostalgia, but toward truth. Because Christmas is beautiful, but it's also brutal in a way. It's holy, right? But it's also heavy. And I think we do ourselves a little disservice when we only tell the pretty version of this story, because the real Christmas story meets us in places that don't make sense, places that ache sometimes, places that feel unfair.

Salvation Beyond Sentiment

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Jesus did not come just to be Emmanuel, God with us, though he absolutely is. He came first and foremost to save us, to save us from our sin, to save us from eternal separation from God, to make a way for us to live with him forever. It's not just about a little cute baby wrapped up in a manger, it's about saving the world. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. And the way God chose to give his son tells us everything about his heart. Like I said in the last

Why Redemption Entered Through Pain

SPEAKER_00 1:29

episode, Jesus was first found with a mom in a mess. But have we ever really stopped to ask the question, why this mess? Why did God choose blood and pain? Why a woman laboring far from home, probably on a dirt floor instead of a palace? Why did salvation enter the world through suffering? And to answer that, we have to go back to the very beginning because the Christmas story does not start with a woman named Mary in a stable. It starts with a woman named Eve in the garden. After the fall, the very first pain God speaks into existence is this. In Genesis 3:16, he says, I will make your pains and childbearing very severe. With painful labor, you will give birth to children. Pain entered the story through sin. And the first pain mentioned was childbearing. Sorry, my friends. But even as God spoke these words, he already had a plan, right? Thousands of years

From Eve’s Curse To Mary’s Labor

SPEAKER_00 2:30

later, how does God begin redemption? By meeting a woman face to face, skin to skin, and the dark of the night, as she suffers the very first consequence of sin. God did not redeem from a place of distance. He entered into it. Mary labored under the curse of Genesis 3, yes, but God carried the cure through her. In her exhaustion, her tearing muscles and her trembling arms, God whispered to the world, I am Emmanuel, God with you, even here, especially here. But the people who are waiting for a Savior to rescue them from an external thing, from oppressors, from enemies, from injustice, and pain outside their control. And we can't honestly blame them, right, for wanting to be saved from those things. I want to be saved from those things. If I'm honest, isn't that often what we're looking for when we come to Jesus, when we come to prayer? Is God save me from the situation, save me from this person, save me from this other mom, save me from this teacher, save me from this child's tantrum. But the fact that he doesn't always save us the way we want him to, it's the reason we hesitate to come at all to him, isn't it? But think about this.

Expecting Rescue Versus Inner Redemption

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Jesus didn't just enter humanity. This is what I want to share that just, it blew my mind today.

The Womb And The Word Mercy

SPEAKER_00 3:52

And I'm really excited to share it. The Hebrew word for womb is Rahem. But get this. The root of the Hebrew word womb means to love deeply, to have compassion, to show mercy, and to have tender affection. It is the same root word when Moses cries out to God, show me your glory, and God responds to him, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. That word mercy, that is the root word for the Hebrew word of womb. Is this blowing anyone else's mind? That the word mercy comes from the same root as womb, let that sink

Christmas Begins In Mercy

SPEAKER_00 4:29

in. The Christmas story begins in the womb. It begins in mercy. God delivered his literal heart, his son, from compassion into the hands of a woman, directly into pain and suffering. I think this is truly amazing. And it makes me cry just sharing

Wonder As A Mother’s Response

SPEAKER_00 4:49

it. So what do we do with this as moms? This is a mom podcast. What do we do with this? And I think the right response is wonder because everything God has done to save us and everything He allows originates from love and mercy. Even when it doesn't make sense, even when it doesn't feel fair, even when it breaks our hearts open. I mean, think of all the questions Mary must have carried. She hushed her little baby's first cries. Did she know that someday she was going to hear him cry out from a cross?

Trusting God When Plans Confuse

SPEAKER_00 5:18

I mean, as Joseph, he wrapped Jesus in claws, and these claws were usually used also for burials. So he's wrapping his newborn baby in claws meant for burial, and he's putting him in a feeding trough. Did he remember the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 53, 4 that says, surely he would take up our pain and bore our suffering? As these parents kissed his newborn cheek, did they imagine a day when his face would be marred beyond recognition? That's Isaiah 52.14. It says his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any human being. Scripture really tells us it's unclear how much they understood. But this much is clear. They trusted the heart of God, even when they didn't understand the plan of God. Can we do that too? Can we believe in the wonder and the promise of God that everything he does comes from love and mercy, even when it doesn't make sense? Because we have to choose to believe that. I think that's the wonder of Christmas. Do we believe it or not? I'm gonna give you some scriptures that lay the foundation for

Love And Mercy As Foundation

SPEAKER_00 6:15

this. First John 4, 9 through 10 says, this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. Romans 5.11 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 2, 4 through 5 says, But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. Love and mercy are not an afterthought in God's plan, they're the foundation. We have a very unique perspective into this as

Mothers As Windows Into God’s Heart

SPEAKER_00 6:47

mothers. When it's hard for you to trust that everything is rooted in God's love and God's mercy, when things don't make sense when you're feeling frustrated, I want you to take a moment and think about how God made you as a mom. If the root word of womb is love and mercy, then God physically built love and mercy into our bodies. Might sound weird, but what a beautiful thing to think about. Even if you're an adoptive mom like me, even if your child didn't come from your room, but it came from your heart, the truth remains: when a child is born into your heart or your home the way God intends, the root of that labor is love. That is how he designed it. I mean, who can explain the depths of love we have for our children? Isn't that a miracle in itself? Who taught us how to love someone so much that we'd suffer for them? I mean, the very first act of becoming a mom is laying down our life in a way, laying down our bodies. And it's not because we're extraordinary. This is not a go girl power sort of podcast. I'm trying to say God is extraordinary and he has put his extraordinary love into us and he has built us to love this way if we abide in him and pull on him for that love. Why does he make us this way? I truly believe it's so that we can catch a glimpse of how deeply the Father loves us. Because if we who are imperfect, we who are in sin, we who choose to rage against God over and over again, even though we love him, if we can still love and fight and suffer for our children in this way, imagine, imagine what a perfect God can do with his love. So

Closing Prayer And Holiday Pause

SPEAKER_00 8:22

my closing prayer, my closing encouragement to you, I know this was not a typical podcast episode, but this is my encouragement to you. If you feel overwhelmed, if life doesn't make sense, if you are feeling tired or resentful or discouraged, I want you to remember how God first came to us. Next time you feel a rush of love for your child or the urge to offer mercy when it would be easier to withdraw, thank God for that glimpse of his heart. Just ask God to remind you, Lord, remind me who you are. Remind me how you came. Remind me that love and mercy are always the root of what you allow and do in my life. Because, my friends, we can trust Jesus even when things don't make sense. So that is my main question to you at the end of this episode. Do you believe that everything God does in your life is birthed out of love and mercy? And that is the wonder of Christmas. And I want to give you this verse to sit on. Jeremiah 29, 11 says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Do you believe it? I will be taking a break to be with my family. My son is coming home from college for three weeks, and so I am going to take a little bit of a reprieve from social media. Merry Christmas. I'm so thankful for all of you. May you feel God show up wherever you are because He loves you, and I do too. Don't forget to follow, save, and share, and subscribe. You're awesome. Give it up for our mommy! Yellow measures. Love it.