Twinkling Lights and Rekindled Hope
If you know me, you know I absolutely love the Christmas season. All aspects excite me. I love the balsam fir smell, all of the twinkling lights, and the time friends and family get to spend together. To me, it’s a season of hope. A reminder that even in the waiting, we can be joyful.
I prefer artificial trees but I have candles that when you burn, you feel like you’re standing in the middle of a Christmas tree farm. I also like stringing my own lights on the tree. Despite the unpopular opinion, I prefer the likelihood that half of the lights on the tree won’t burn out halfway through the season.
As I was sitting on the floor unraveling the strand of lights, I couldn’t help but wonder about the night Jesus was born. About the star that led the Magi to the King. How bright was the light? What was the weather like? Were they as excited as a kid on Christmas morning?
As I plugged the strand of lights in to see if it was working, the room was instantly bright. One small strand of the lights, and the darkness was eliminated. Reminded me of the ease a small child feels when Mom or Dad flips on their light or plugs in a nightlight. He or she is no longer scared of the dark.
The light of Christmas brings hope, peace, joy, and love. The four pillars of Advent, culminating with the birth of Jesus Christ. The light outweighs the darkness. We have a new sense of hope in the midst of our circumstances.
There’s so much more to Christmas than presents. The gift of Jesus for a world so desperately in need. A world in need of hope, peace, joy, and love. Sounds like our world today, doesn’t it?
At the time of Jesus’ birth, the people had been waiting in silence. Not just days or months, but there had been no word from God in four hundred years. Talk about feeling like an eternity.
During seasons of waiting it’s easy to lose hope. To get distracted and want to take the easy way out. To take matters into our own hands. My patience is at times tested while waiting at the doctor or sitting at a restaurant. I cannot imagine four hundred years of silence.
Advent reminds me that God’s ways are better than mine. That God knows the exact path I am on and He holds me safe in the midst of my waiting. He guides me along the way and promises never to leave me or forsake me.
Just as God knew and arranged the perfect time for the birth of His Son, the Messiah, He’s arranging all of the pieces of your life and mine. There may be some waiting involved but because of Jesus, we can wait with Hope.
Merry Christmas, friends.
Luke 2:1-20, NLT
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
