Assurances

Listening to the news on Radio 4 today, I heard them say, "Politicians assure us that this will not ...." I can't remember what they assured me of, I only know I didn't believe them. How has "I can assure you" come to mean, "I am telling barefaced lies"?
I thought about the angels in the Christmas story. They came to bring assurances but they started with reassurances. "Don't be afraid Mary", "Don't be afraid Joseph", "Fear not shepherds". God could have blasted into time with angels screaming "I can assure you, God's Son will be born."
But God comes first to reassure us, to make sure we're not afraid, to check that we trust Him.
That's the key to an assurance - trust. I don't trust most politicians, too many of them in the public eye have shown themselves to be untrustworthy. However, I have found I can trust God. When he assures me he is sending his son to be the Saviour of the world, I believe him. His love for me, his tenderness in my grief, his strength in my weakness, his healing in my illness, have all reassured me that His Son Jesus will save me if I ask him to. I believe the same will be true for you, so maybe you could have a look at the possibility of letting God assure and reassure you this Christmas.