In my mind, I imagined the span of the life of Jesus. What was daily life like in the home of Mary and Joseph? They must have lived in wonder at times...and at times, probably forgot that Jesus was who he was. I am struck with awe after having witnessed Bennett's birth, that the Lord God Almighty made his entrance into our world in a similar way. Through a dark canal.
Have you ever thought of how much darkness there is in the story of Christmas? The story of Light coming to earth? Beginning with the long, rough trek to Bethlehem that Mary endured at an advanced stage of pregnancy. Then at the end of her journey, giving birth in a barn, and soon after having to flee the country with her little boy. All the while pondering reality in her heart, and remembering the prophecy..."he will pierce your own soul too"...
What about your own life and walk with the Lord? When we meet Him, and receive Him, the Light enters our own dark hearts...but His presence in us doesn't automatically shield us from dark things in our lives either. As we know, life on earth continues to have dark events.
After pondering dark times in your own life, think of how profound grace is. The enabling of God. The giving to us what we are unable to produce...everything really. What do we have that we were not given? It's all grace. All things good are a result of His Light in our darkness.
Immanuel, the greatest gift of all came through a dark canal. Mary and Joseph were given grace to trust and teach and guide Jesus as his parents. Now we can have the Light inside of us that overcomes even the deepest darkness!
That gives us great reason to celebrate Christmas!
John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Psalm 18:28
You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
4 comments:
Kathy,
I just opened to this passage this morning, "The lilght sines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." John 1:5
We watched "The Nativity Story" lastnight. Throughout the movie "the darnkness" really struck me too...esp how difficult all of it must have been for Mary and Joseph. Yet, they believed and so can we...even when we can't see the way and it doesn't make a lot of sense to us. We can trust Him because His ways are so much greater than ours and He never breaks a promise. LOVED reading this, this morning! Thanks for sharing.
P.S. Bennett is so adorable!
Handsome baby! Congratulations.
Dark side of Christmas ... good thoughts here. I wrote about the birth of Jesus from the perspective of heaven. It is 4 posts down on Family Fountain.
He is absolutely beautiful! I know you are now experiencing all sorts of "feelings" that maybe haven't stirred in years---infants do that. I think that God looks at us like that too.
What a blessing to hold...a new born baby. (As the song says)
I hope your NEW YEAR brings fulfillment of promises and dreams!
Love you!
"What do we have that we were not given?"
This is a beautiful post. I'm glad I "happened" upon your blog.
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