Nothing much was going on...
Posted by Martha & Greg Singleton , Tuesday, December 22, 2009 8:33 PM
Zacharias went to burn the incense, as he had for years as a priest, simply because it was his turn, and he did what he was supposed to do. It had been years since he and Elizabeth had put away their dream of having children, and just gone about the business of their days, faithfully living the best way they could.
Mary went about her daily chores, performing the lowly tasks women in her culture were assigned to do, not resenting, but working to be a girl who would please God. It really wasn’t a big deal.
Joseph worked in his shop, building carts and chairs and mending tables, day by day following the holy law to the best of his ability. Even as he absorbed the news that his fiancé was pregnant, knowing that he was not the father, he put aside his disappointment, and tried to figure out what would be the right thing to do.
The shepherds were sitting in a cold, dark field, huddled around a fire, making sure the sheep were not attacked by animals or stolen by thieves, the same as they did night after night, year after year. It was a job without much challenge, without much pay, with little or no respect from the community. But it was their job, and they were doing it.
Anna and Simeon were in the temple, each praying and hoping as they had every day for years…So long, in fact, that the first fire of inspiration that had motivated them long ago had dwindled to ashes, and each one’s attendance there had become habit motivated simply by the desire to faithfully do what they believed was right.
It had been over 2,000 years since God had spoken to His people through the prophets. Their land was occupied by a foreign power, and life was hard. God’s promises didn’t seem to have much to do with what their lives were like. But they were faithful, and spent their days doing the things they knew to be right.
And then!
God interrupted routines, beginning by sending Gabriel to give incredible news to Mary, to Elizabeth, to Zacharias, to Joseph, to the shepherds.
In one night, the world was turned upside down, and a Redeemer was born who would restore intimacy between God and man, and who Himself would be the answer to every longing of the hearts of men and women for all time.
There are believers this Christmas season who have been living in the place where nothing much seems to be happening. Like Mary and Joseph, like Zacharias and Elizabeth and the shepherds, we are going about our days, motivated by faith to do the right thing, though circumstances are not what we had dreamed of.
For us, this is a good time to remember that faith, faithfulness, is the substance of things hoped for! Whatever it is that we are longing for God to do, it is our faith, and our faithfulness in the place that He has us right now, that will allow Him to bring about His plans for us.
My prayer this Christmas season is that we all will find ourselves, like Simeon and Anna, faithfully in the place where He has called us to be, so that, like them, our eyes can behold His coming.
I pray that this year, the routine will be interrupted by the glorious. This year, may you suddenly find Christmas happening in your heart!
Emmanuel!
Martha
