Hope In The Dark
It’s kind of ironic how the ‘most wonderful time of year’ can also feel the most painful. Though it’s supposed to be merry and bright, for so many it’s actually so dark. Somehow the happiest season tends to bring out the sting of loss, the ache of grief and the weight of disappointment.
I can’t count how many times that I’ve heard the words uttered, “It just doesn’t really feel like Christmas.”
And if you’ve uttered those words yourself this year, you are not alone.
I’ve been reading and reflecting on the birth of Jesus and I have been reminded of how imperfect and chaotic His arrival truly was.
When the angel found Mary, he told her she had found favor with God and she was chosen to give birth to him. From an outward perspective, this seems like the most miraculous gift and encounter she could have had.. And it was.
But this gift didn’t come without pain.
Mary was a teenager. She was engaged to be married to Joseph.. If people found out that she was pregnant outside of wedlock, there would be endless criticism, shame, rejection and threats to her life.
What would it mean to raise the son of God? Oh how her life would forever be changed. Yes, she would birth the promised Messiah.. The word made flesh. She would deliver the very one that her soul had been waiting for. But the truth was that He had really come to deliver her.
The ache that her soul felt for the arrival of her Lord would collide with the grief of a mother who would brutally lose her son.
The innocent little boy that she’d care for and raise would later be wounded for the afflictions of the world.
I can’t imagine what that night in Bethlehem must have been like. To be in labor after a long, tiring and uncomfortable journey, only to find that there is nowhere to give birth except a dirty old stable. If only people knew who this baby really was..
I can only imagine how her momma's heart must have felt as she finally gave birth and held this precious king close to her chest. The comfort that He must have been to her soul.
I can’t imagine how safe she must have felt with Him. The wonder that must have filled her eyes as she gazed into His. Her precious King. Her baby boy.
I can’t imagine the thoughts that must have crossed her mind as the Shepherds and Wisemen came to worship Him. The weary world rejoiced because this man of sorrows was born.
I can’t imagine what it was like for her to hum Him a lullaby underneath that bright morning star as He slept soundly in her arms. She was weary from the journey to this moment.. but did she ache for this moment to never end as she anticipated the sorrowful journey to come?
This holy night.
Where joy and sorrow would collide as hope had finally come.
Though there would be pain, grief, rejection, sorrow and death, He would make all things new.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
Your night may be dark, it may feel hopeless and it may be like nothing you had dreamed of.. But hope has come.
May you feel His presence this Christmas in a more real way than you have ever felt. May His light invade every dark corner and His peace carry you in every moment.
May you be reminded that this is why He has come. This is the reality of Christmas. We are in desperate need of a Savior, so deeply broken - without hope unless He arrived.
And He did.
He came in all humility into the silence of the night as the world held its breath.
He came as the word made flesh. Here. To earth. To take on our weaknesses and to be crushed for our iniquities.
He gave everything to be with us.
May we give everything to be with Him.
May we surrender every broken heart, dream, desire and ache at His feet as we worship Him for all that He has done.
He is Emmanuel - God with us.
In every heartbreak
loss
rejection
disappointment
peak
and valley
Nothing can ever separate us from His embrace.
Though the night may seem dark, may we cling to the light that is dawning. Our hope has come. Jesus is here.
