Reason #690
I went out of town this weekend for a girls' trip. My cousin is getting married on Saturday, so we made a trip to Dallas for one last pre-wedding celebration. I enjoyed my time away, but I was ready to be back home with Aaron and Scout. I missed them terribly, even though I was only gone for the weekend. I was glad they missed me, too. Reunited and it feels so good!
I made it back in time to go to our church Christmas concert tonight. Our worship leader made a comment about the fact that God had been silent for 400 years before sending Jesus. His people had been rescued from Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and made it to the Promised Land and then fast forward a little bit and God was silent. Four hundred years go by and the silence finally broke with Jesus.
Where is God in the silence? Why is He waiting and taking so long? Why isn't He acting any faster? What's the deal? Why can't we hear Him? Why is He allowing things to go this direction? We call out, yet we get no answer. We beg, we plead, yet He remains silent. Time passes, not a word. We keep asking. Keep the requests coming, but each one seems to go unanswered. Why won't He just say something? Why won't He just answer us? Silence. It's frustrating, it's confusing, it's tough.
Yet in the silence, God was working. Waiting for just the right time, as His timing is always perfect. Waiting for the right people to reach the right point in there lives where they would be ready to live out His plan. Waiting for certain events to take place so that the stage was set. Planning, preparing, God was doing this in the silence. In the silence, His body was formed. In the silence, He was born. And all of the sudden, with the cries of a baby, God's silence was broken. He was here, the long awaited answer.
It's in the silence that God shows up. Entering the emptiness and bringing His peace. Into the silence, He speaks hope. Because in the silence we learn to listen. In the silence, we open our ears and we wait to hear. Desperate for a familiar voice, for an answer, the silence has us standing at attention in anticipation. The exact posture we need to be in when important, life changing news is delivered.
God answers His children. Sometimes, it takes 400 years. But maybe the silence is exactly what we need in order to hear best. Maybe the silence is just God's way of preparing us for the incredible answer we are about to receive. Because when God speaks into the silence, it's significant. When He speaks, it's because He has a life saving thing to say. And so the silence is broken with miracles, with long awaited, miracles. Four hundred years, and on that silent night, the tiny cry of a baby was the most beautiful, perfect, answer God gave His people. Sure, it took some time, but when God finally speaks into our silence, His life changing answers are worth the wait.
#690 - Because He broke the silence with the cries of a long awaited Savior.
"But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” - Habakkuk 2:20
I made it back in time to go to our church Christmas concert tonight. Our worship leader made a comment about the fact that God had been silent for 400 years before sending Jesus. His people had been rescued from Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and made it to the Promised Land and then fast forward a little bit and God was silent. Four hundred years go by and the silence finally broke with Jesus.
Where is God in the silence? Why is He waiting and taking so long? Why isn't He acting any faster? What's the deal? Why can't we hear Him? Why is He allowing things to go this direction? We call out, yet we get no answer. We beg, we plead, yet He remains silent. Time passes, not a word. We keep asking. Keep the requests coming, but each one seems to go unanswered. Why won't He just say something? Why won't He just answer us? Silence. It's frustrating, it's confusing, it's tough.
Yet in the silence, God was working. Waiting for just the right time, as His timing is always perfect. Waiting for the right people to reach the right point in there lives where they would be ready to live out His plan. Waiting for certain events to take place so that the stage was set. Planning, preparing, God was doing this in the silence. In the silence, His body was formed. In the silence, He was born. And all of the sudden, with the cries of a baby, God's silence was broken. He was here, the long awaited answer.
It's in the silence that God shows up. Entering the emptiness and bringing His peace. Into the silence, He speaks hope. Because in the silence we learn to listen. In the silence, we open our ears and we wait to hear. Desperate for a familiar voice, for an answer, the silence has us standing at attention in anticipation. The exact posture we need to be in when important, life changing news is delivered.
God answers His children. Sometimes, it takes 400 years. But maybe the silence is exactly what we need in order to hear best. Maybe the silence is just God's way of preparing us for the incredible answer we are about to receive. Because when God speaks into the silence, it's significant. When He speaks, it's because He has a life saving thing to say. And so the silence is broken with miracles, with long awaited, miracles. Four hundred years, and on that silent night, the tiny cry of a baby was the most beautiful, perfect, answer God gave His people. Sure, it took some time, but when God finally speaks into our silence, His life changing answers are worth the wait.
#690 - Because He broke the silence with the cries of a long awaited Savior.
"But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” - Habakkuk 2:20