A few of you have asked for the text from my reading during the Fuse Christmas Program. I wrote this early one morning in my own time of silence and reflection. Enjoy.
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Silence.
A confession
Silence.
I know I need it, but I seldom ever make space for it.
I both seek it out and do a lot to run from it.
It can be a scary place, but I’m always glad when I’ve been there.
Silence.
It allows me to consider the deep things of Jesus.
It frees me to examine my own heart.
So… why is it so rare in my life?
Silence.
In it I find Jesus, so why am I afraid of it?
Is it because when I see Jesus I also see myself for who I am?
Even as I write these words in the quiet stillness of the morning I get distracted.
Tasks and email call to me…
They say they are more important than time spent reflecting on the Truth of Scripture.
I know it’s not true, but why do I put them first?
Why is it so hard to just be still and know that He is God?
Why does it feel so awkward to simply sit and think about God’s love?
I am out of practice?
Have I allowed the things of this world to crowd out the things of God?
Have I gotten so busy at Christmas that I don’t take the time to really think about what it means?
And yet, as I sit here in the quiet… it comes.
When I take the time to call out to Jesus in my silence, he answers in a whisper.
A sense of God’s love overwhelms me as I ponder the Creator of the Universe born into the most humble of circumstances.
For you.
For me.
A feeling of awe surrounds me as I think about the fact that this is what changed everything.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
This baby would grow up to die for my sins.
I should never be the same again.
He would walk this earth and call the ordinary and regular to be his followers.
The uneducated leftovers would be his disciples.
Guys like me.
I remember what it was like when my sons were born and wonder what it was like for Mary to be up late at night holding, rocking and singing to the Savior.
Did she remember those nights when she saw him on the cross? Did she long to just hold him and comfort him as he cried out? The same way she had 30 years earlier when he was born?
This young girl had been chosen by God to deliver His love into the world. And really, He calls us to do the same thing. To deliver his love to a broken and dying world.
She would welcome into this place and into her life the Son! The Savior! The King!
The Bible tells us that Mary “pondered these things in her heart.” Maybe I need to be more like her.
I welcome into our world the Son! The Savior! The King!
She didn’t have all the answers.
She had the baby.
And, she had faith in the One who had sent Him.
I like to worship Jesus in ways that are loud.
But…
I need to worship Jesus in the quiet
In deep moments of concentration.
In my heart.
Through my tears.
I love the silence.
In the silence I find Jesus and He finds me.
Silence.
A confession
Silence.
I know I need it, but I seldom ever make space for it.
I both seek it out and do a lot to run from it.
It can be a scary place, but I’m always glad when I’ve been there.
Silence.
It allows me to consider the deep things of Jesus.
It frees me to examine my own heart.
So… why is it so rare in my life?
Silence.
In it I find Jesus, so why am I afraid of it?
Is it because when I see Jesus I also see myself for who I am?
Even as I write these words in the quiet stillness of the morning I get distracted.
Tasks and email call to me…
They say they are more important than time spent reflecting on the Truth of Scripture.
I know it’s not true, but why do I put them first?
Why is it so hard to just be still and know that He is God?
Why does it feel so awkward to simply sit and think about God’s love?
I am out of practice?
Have I allowed the things of this world to crowd out the things of God?
Have I gotten so busy at Christmas that I don’t take the time to really think about what it means?
And yet, as I sit here in the quiet… it comes.
When I take the time to call out to Jesus in my silence, he answers in a whisper.
A sense of God’s love overwhelms me as I ponder the Creator of the Universe born into the most humble of circumstances.
For you.
For me.
A feeling of awe surrounds me as I think about the fact that this is what changed everything.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
This baby would grow up to die for my sins.
I should never be the same again.
He would walk this earth and call the ordinary and regular to be his followers.
The uneducated leftovers would be his disciples.
Guys like me.
I remember what it was like when my sons were born and wonder what it was like for Mary to be up late at night holding, rocking and singing to the Savior.
Did she remember those nights when she saw him on the cross? Did she long to just hold him and comfort him as he cried out? The same way she had 30 years earlier when he was born?
This young girl had been chosen by God to deliver His love into the world. And really, He calls us to do the same thing. To deliver his love to a broken and dying world.
She would welcome into this place and into her life the Son! The Savior! The King!
The Bible tells us that Mary “pondered these things in her heart.” Maybe I need to be more like her.
I welcome into our world the Son! The Savior! The King!
She didn’t have all the answers.
She had the baby.
And, she had faith in the One who had sent Him.
I like to worship Jesus in ways that are loud.
But…
I need to worship Jesus in the quiet
In deep moments of concentration.
In my heart.
Through my tears.
I love the silence.
In the silence I find Jesus and He finds me.
