A different perspective for Christmas

  This year, more than ever, God has directly and specifically challenged my heart on the  issue of Christmas.  I recently blogged about "waiting," and my passion for understanding this great challenge from God has only increased. 
  I was privileged to speak to a group of ladies at a Christmas dinner & cookie swap earlier this week.  The message that I was burdened to share was about the "400 silent years" that existed between the close of the book of Malachi and the opening of the New Testament.  While we have no record of prophesies or God speaking to man in any form during those years in history, we do know that He was at work. 
  Through my study of history, I was amazed at just how many prophesies were fulfilled during those 400 years of tumultuous history.  Kingdoms were overthrown repeatedly, the title of "World Power" changed hands several times, and the Israelites were constantly in submission to authorities of other nations.  The book of Daniel from the Old Testament is full of prophesies that were fulfilled to the smallest of detail during those years, and many of Israelites had surely almost lost hope.
  In spite of the battles, persecution, and struggle through the years of silence, however, some great things happened as well.  The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek for the first time.  As Rome became the center of the "world" at that time, Greek became the national language.  Thus, more people than ever had access to God's word. (70 scholars worked on this translation in Egypt; we know it today as the Septuagint).
  Rome also put roads in places where they had never been, allowing trade to spread.  People became more connected than they had ever been through the use of the Roman roads-- roads which were later critical for missionary journeys such as those of Paul and his companions. 
   During this time, the Maccabaeus family rose and was able to restore the temple in Jerusalem, which had been pillaged and destroyed by Antiochus Ephiphanes 2300 days earlier (one specific example of a prophesy from Daniel), and the Jewish people once again had a place to worship. 
  As Greek culture spread, the Hellenist (Jews who loved Greek culture) and the group who opposed them, separated themselves and became known as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 
  Through all of these events and numerous others, God was setting the stage for the PERFECT time for the long-awaited Messiah! The Israelites had lived under the law for over 2,000 years. They had been captured, pillaged, and ruled by numerous peoples. When I even think about the weight of the burden they must have felt, I'm overwhelmed.  To think of the longing in their hearts for a Savior makes me sick at my own complacently and complaining over trivial issues.  They had no freedoms to live or woship as they chose, and yet we know that some of them still held on for the One who could save them. 
  Luke communicates the story so articulately.  When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he told her that she had found favor in God's eyes.  Wow. That means that even though her people had lived generation after generation without the voice of God, she still believed.  She still worshipped.  She was still faithful.  (Yet, sometimes I begin to waver after only waiting for a few months for something...)
  As we know, the promised Messiah came.  It happened just as God had said that it would.  The wait was over, and the world was presented with our Savior.  A Savior that you and I never even had to wait for.  He's been freely and graciously given to us-- and yet we hesitate to give him Lordship in our lives.
  These thoughts have led me to see Christmas completely differently this year.  I realize that Jesus was not born on December 25th, and we don't actually plan on teaching Cale that this is Jesus' birthday (we'll celebrate it each year closer to the day that we believe historically could have been His birth).  What we do plan on doing each Christmas, however, is teaching Cale and sharing with those around us that Christmas is about a fulfillment of the promises of God and the offer of Salvation to the world.  For us, that means that this year, we focused more heavily on the needs of those "in need" than the wants of ourselves or even our family members.  It means that instead of spending money on Christmas cards with sweet pictures of Cale, we designated that money to a family who couldn't do Christmas without help.  More than that, though, it simply means that this year, as December flies by, we focus our hearts and thoughts on the One who came to die.  We rejoice in His provision; we saturate ourselves with His truth. 
  My hope and prayer is that Cale will grow up understanding that we celebrate this truth all year long.  We live by it.  It is the very life that pumps through our veins.  Nothing in this world holds meaning without it. 

** I realize that my succint summation of those 400 years of history leaves out many details. I didn't want to write a post that would take hours to read. If anyone has any questions about those years, however, or what prophecies were fulfilled during that time, I would LOVE to give you a more detailed message privately. :)  

Waiting

Wait.

  To even hear the word makes me cringe somewhat. I'm uncomfortable with waiting, as I'm sure many of you are, as well. As is true to God's nature, however, and His desire to see us constantly learn to be more dependent upon Him, I nearly always find myself waiting for something in life. The things that I'm waiting for today will most likely not be the same as whatever it is that I'm waiting for five years from now, but the emotion behind the waiting is what really matters. The fact is, when God challenges my heart in a certain area and causes me to wait for something that I so desperately long for, I often struggle with honoring Him in the waiting.  I frequently seek to justify my impatience by telling God over and over again that what I'm longing for is something that I NEED. Something that will be for His glory. Something that will help us be a better testimony of His goodness.
  I wonder if God laughs at these thoughts of mine. Seriously, who am I trying to convince? The God of the universe who loves me deeply enough to make me wait has declared that these things will serve a purpose. Romans 8 gives us a perfect summation: "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it , in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (verses 19-27).
  Wow. God intentionally subjects us to frustration. That could be a little hard to swallow if our focus is on our comfort, our self-centered lifestyles, or our "American dream." The part that follows blows me away, though! He does this so that we will be "liberated from our bondage to decay." We are in bondage to decay. We cannot be deceived about that! Without the Lord and His intentions for our life, we're nothing but bound by a slavery to sin that we can barely fathom. By His unmeasurable love, He chooses for us to suffer so that we understand what true Freedom is. Freedom is not something American. Freedom is found in Christ alone! (To be free to worship is a blessing; don't misunderstand me. Yet, day by day those freedoms are taken from us. We cannot be surprised by a government who chooses to take away our personal freedom when they fail to understand what true freedom is.)
  The point of my rambling is this: I don't know what it is that you're waiting on tonight. It may be something small or trivial, but important to you, or it may be absolutely life-altering, as is the case with what I find myself waiting upon now. I will never be able to change the fact that I will always feel that I'm waiting on something. But, I can change my response to where God has me right now. Today. Not looking or begging for change, but trusting my God to fulfill what He has promised. Just as our pastor pointed out in today's message, Luke 1: 45 declares that Mary was blessed because she believed that God would fulfill His promise. After 400 years of silence, God spoke and declared that He was giving His Son to the world. 400 years of silence. Can you even imagine a world where God was silent for 400 years? I can't. I shudder to even think about Him remaining silent for a week.
  He calls us to wait. He promises that when we do, we'll understand freedom. It's not an easy task, and it's one that I battle every day, but I'm trusting that God will deliver. Abram waited for a son. The Israelites waited to enter the promised land. Job waited for God to move. The world waited for a Savior. In every case, God delivered. He'll deliver you and me, too.