Christmas lights. Broken hearts. Gaily wrapped packages. Confused minds. Long and lonely days. All waiting for Christmas.
Hard times and heartaches do not follow the calendar year. They do not come when it is convenient nor at our choosing. Some of us will be waiting out the Christmas season as we experience grief and sadness. The twinkling lights will seem to mock our broken and grieving hearts. And we wonder, “Where is Christmas?” And so we wait.
waiting through the darkness
Life is lined with hallways of waiting. Delays that seems to become a cloak of shrouding night. Moments that bring despair and feelings that say “…it won’t get any better than this.” Yet in our waiting and in our darkness a faint bit of hope still flickers.
Likewise, shepherds sat around the dying embers of their campfire, as darkness enveloped the land. How many years had they and their ancestors sat in echoing and empty hallways of waiting?
The waiting for the Messiah had begun with high hopes. He would come. He would free them from their bondage. Nevertheless, the long days trudged on into 400 weary years.
waiting with hope
Time and again they looked for glimmers of the coming Savior. They fanned the dying embers of their hope and continued on.
In defiance of what it looked like, they grasped the hand of Jehovah in reliance and a faith unseen. Even when no shard of the coming promise could be seen, they still clung to their Creator. Finally, in the darkness of their night of waiting the fullness of time came. The message of joy and deliverance lit up the darkened hillside and filled their hearts with a blaze of glory.
The words that rang our far and wide from the heavenly being echoed across the hillside and down the corridors of time. “…good tidings…great joy…for all people. Unto you is born..a Savior.”
As the celestial light faded, the shepherds rose in wonder. The waiting was over. The light of the Promised One illuminated their once despairing hearts with a brilliance unequaled. A Light to lighten all people. A Light that had dispelled their darkness. Similarly, we too can find that He will bring light to our darkness.
waiting brings the light
Dear friend, as you walk through your own hallway of waiting, draw near…for it is in the darkness, He brings the Light.
As you see glimmers of hope, fan those embers and know that He will come. In your situation, in your mess and in your grief, the Christ Child will come and abide with you. He will lift the shrouding night and walk with you through the heartaches of this life.
When the twinkling lights of Christmas fail to enlighten your darkness and you are still longing for the joy of Christmas to occupy your heart and life, turn to the One who is Christmas. The One who is Light. In the midst of your darkness, He will come!
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