Christmas 2020.....a mixture of great darkness and uncertainty. The line from the song Silent Night doesn't seem to fit too well, does it? "All is calm....All is bright". Well, it doesn't fit if you have your attention focused on this old world. Putting your heart smack dab in the middle of the societal mess that our culture seems to have dredged up. All is chaos....all is dark.
More phone calls and texts than I can count of people who are really struggling this year. Covid....never really heard or knew much about this until this year. Financially businesses are just trying to stay afloat during this pandemic. I hate that word also while I'm on the subject...pandemic.
Yet during all this darkness there is a hope. Oh, not the kind of hope the world offers, but hope that was born in the heart of our creator. Hope that leads us to look up and not be consumed by the darkness around us.Hope in the form of an event that took place long ago. Hope in the form of a baby boy born in the darkest of dark times.
It is this hope that I cling to. It is this baby born in a manger with a cross in His future that I look to. Jesus! Not the religious Jesus........Not the Hallmark Jesus.........Not a denominational Jesus. But the Jesus who is the Son of Almighty God. Jesus, the only one who can offer real, true peace and hope during our own dark times. You see, I don't want there to be any room in my heart or brain for the chaos the world is constantly stirring to draw my thoughts and heart away from God.
I want to be able to say what Mary said when the Angel Gabriel came to tell of God's plans for her life. "MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD!!" Magnifies=makes larger, increases, draws attention to. I want to magnify God to the point that there is room for nothing else in my heart, soul or mind. That like Paul, I can say "The world has been crucified to me and I crucified to the world."
It's Christmas Eve...2020. Tomorrow all my family will be seated around our table. I will look upon each one and be filled with wonder of how God has brought us to this point. Oh, we're not special or anything like that, but I'm just crazy enough to believe that God has blessed us beyond measure. It's not the number of presents around our tree. It's not us trying to create the perfect Jesus. No........collectively we will bow our heads and give thanks that God has kept His hand upon us during this year. We will ask for it to continue into the next year.
I pray that you "magnify" the Lord, and that His hope, His promises, and His presence fill your Christmas to overflowing.
Merry Christmas from Vicki and Michael......."The B's in Attalla".
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