Deborah Rutherford
Dec 1, 2024
"In the silence of time, God's chosen ones fervently pray "Messiah" on their lips as it was in olden times and is now. "Come, Lord Jesus!" "Come again, Lord Jesus!"
How can we know that morning is still coming on the darkest day, the shortest one, which feels 400 years long?
This year, the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21st, 2024. On the Winter Solstice, our earth about stops as we step into a deep dark. This signals the beginning of winter where barren trees are asleep along with many of the animals. Resting creation. Does this call for us to rest?
But do we stop? Isn't it our human tendency at this time of the year to be quite busy, and might stopping be counterproductive?
The liturgical rhythms of the hours, tides, seasons, and the liturgical church calendar are God's sacred time. We are invited to draw near to God's heart and embrace our covenant with our Heavenly Father. To rest in Him.
We are living in the in-between, a luminal space between our born Savior and our resurrected King Jesus coming again, our earthen existence and our eternal home. Our world circles around to the birth of Christ each year, as it has throughout the ages. It is a time when creation holds its breath on the darkest night in anticipation of God’s holy splendor.
Do we hold our breath too? Wondering:
Will the Star shine in the night?
Will the Angels bend for us, too, with their harps of gold?
Will Jesus come, again?
In anticipation we wait, and in the dark, the silence, the pause, the rest, God asks,
"Do you believe?"
“Do you trust me?”
This is a yearly moment of trusting in the dark, where we repeatedly experience the Holy story: the immaculate conception, the miracle birth, and the proclamation to all men that God has peace for us and a Savior. God has come to us. God takes us with Him on the Cross. God gives us resurrection. God in the flesh, Emmanuel.
In the silence of time, God's chosen ones fervently pray "Messiah" on their lips as it was in olden times and is now. "Come, Lord Jesus!" "Come again, Lord Jesus!
Where a God so loved the world that with a promise that began in the garden: “He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel,” (Genesis 3 NKJV), comes to fruition in a stable in Bethlehem when a babe was born unto a virgin, a promise proclaimed to shepherds nearby in a field, a promise proclaimed across the ages and a promise that continues today when our King Jesus returns. This is the reassurance of God's enduring promises, a source of comfort and security in the darkest days.
How do we hang on to the joy of Christmas during the darkest day when we may, for a moment, hold our breath? Can we rest in God when there are packages to wrap, candles to light, and cookies to bake? How do we wait in the luminal space of the in-between?
On the darkest day, when the Winter Solstice comes, although we know surely Christmas is coming, here are Five ways to intentionally bend with the Angels:
READ: Set aside time to read the Holy Stories from Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2. This is best done with the whole family. Invite the wonder of what the shepherds were experiencing. What was Mary pondering? What was Joseph thinking? Inhale and exhale your breath slowly and read:
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:8-14 NKJV
WORSHIP of our Lord Jesus is what we were made to do. Just as the Angels came in song and proclamation, so do we. Make a Spotify playlist of your favorite Christmas songs and play them all day long. Grab a guitar with a fire glowing and like the Angels sing!
PRAYER is where we meet with our Holy Father because we do not have to wait to be with Him. We can be with Jesus right now. God can always be with us, in the past, present, and future. He is in our presence now. We are welcome in His throne room. We can meet with the Lord privately and share family prayers with each other.
REST: On this darkest day of the year, rest in God's promise that He is coming again and ponder, as Mary did after giving birth to Jesus. How can we not stop thinking about Jesus and all He has done for us? How can we not tell? We are part of the greatest story ever told; now, let's go tell it.
HOPE: We, ourselves, or those we know may be going through dark times, a season of suffering, loneliness, or shaken faith. Let's hold on to our hope and joy this Christmas season because we have a God who loves us. We have his Peace. We have Jesus.
This may be the start of winter, but it also means more sunlight is coming. This reflects the light of our Lord breaking through into the darkness.
Shine as His stars in today's Christmas sky to guide fellow brethren homeward bound. Just as Jesus is the light in the darkness, so are we. This is how we rest in the wait of Christmas.
A Christmas Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bending low to be with us and coming to us in human flesh, our Savior Jesus Christ. Oh, what a glorious day! We will celebrate this Christmas when the brightest light awakens the dark and forever changes our lives. We wait in anticipation for You, our resurrected King, to come. Thank you for coming on the darkest day to our weary world. No day is too dark for you! In Jesus' name, Amen.
Deborah Rutherford is a Christian wife who loves to write stories, devotionals, and poetry. She is also an award-winning makeup artist. Deborah shares her journey of faith, joy, and beauty on her blog at www.deborahrutherford.com and social media. She is a contributing writer for Aletheia Today Magazine, Kingdom Edge Magazine and Gracefully Truthful Ministries and has a devotional in the book “Shepherd on Duty: Promises of God you Can Trust” (Arabelle Publishing) and the Calla Press, Literary Journal Spring 2023.
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