John 4:42
Special Note: I upgraded to Windows 7 over the weekend and I thought the transition would go smoother, but the email software is different, etc., so all that to say, Russ & Janelle Hansen are helping me with E-Votionals until I get the new software mastered. – Pastor Cecil
“Now we believe…and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Silent Night? Have you had one of those lately? Ever? About the closest I have ever come was one starry night in the middle of a campground with my husband Russ and our two young daughters. We had only the popping of the burning logs on the campfire to distract us from the marvelous silence of the star-filled midnight sky.
We now live in the middle of a small town where from just about anywhere you can hear the trains in the distance rumbling through our city. The calm, quiet air of a wintry city night here in the Northwest carries a variety of other sounds to my listening ears, too. But, occasionally, when the burdens are heavy and the cares are many I don’t even notice those sounds. Instead, I hear only a profound silence. Not a beautiful silence like we had in our camping experience so many years ago, but a painful silence. The kind of deafening silence when you ask a difficult question and hold your breath for the answer…..and the answer does not come.
On a silent night like that I may be calling out to God with concerns too deep to share with others, and in my preoccupied bubble I hear only the silence. Did God hear me? Does he care? Has he forgotten me in my little small town?
At this Christmas time of the year I am reminded of the seeming silence of God in the 400 years between the happenings of the Old Testament and the New. I’m thinking the people of Israel might have laid silently in their homes or on their rooftops at night wondering if God still heard their cries, did He care about His people?…would He ever fulfill His promise of a Savior…deliver them from their suffering…had He forgotten them?
And then one silent winter night, a star shone above another small town, the Son of God was quietly born, and the answers to all our questions began to unfold. Jesus would show us that God did care, He does listen, He loves us and He is a God who keeps His promises.
Silent night. Holy night. Love’s pure light. He heard. He still hears. And after that silent night, in the dawn of a new day, we can say along with the Gospel writer, “Now we believe…and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).
Merry Christmas!
Janelle
To access Silent Night, this week’s inspirational video from GloryScapes.com, please go to: http://www.gloryscapes.com/silentnight in your browser or click on the image below.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil