Four hundred silent years, they say, followed the penning of the last word of what we now call the Old Testament.
The Jewish world waited, expectant... waiting for their Messiah. When would he come? What would he do?
And then... a baby was born to a lonely couple in a stable surrounded by animals, welcomed only by a group of lowly shepherds who claimed they had had a vision of angels, and later by three magi from the East who had followed an unusual star.
John tells us in the beginning of his gospel: “…the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
Why not?
Because He didn’t look like and do what they expected?
And I wonder if it is the same today--if my longing that God would meet my erring relative as he did Paul on that Damascus Road, that God would heal my beloved friend as Jesus healed so many—is based on an erroneous belief about what God should be doing?
Am I willing to let go of my expectations, and allow God to be God?
Can I surrender my desire for things to be made right as I understand right?
Can I let go of my need to control?
Can I stay grounded in the knowledge that God is good?
Can I trust Him, no matter how things look?
Can you?
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
" As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8, 9
This is our God.
His Name is love.
He is the God of hope who “will fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
I wonder if we can let go of our expectations and place our hope in Who God is.
I invite you to join me in that space this Christmas season.
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