In The Quiet, Where Those Waiting See Him

I cannot hear. The quiet is so loud. It bangs and shutters and drowns out words that say, “Keep moving”, “Don’t stop serving”, “Love this one He put beside you”, even though few hear, few know the fullness of this journey.

Then, He shows me this season of a manger. A baby, craddled quiet, humbly separated where no one sees. Noise, clatter, distant….

Yet, it is there, God places and is pleased by His most prized possession, the representation of God himself, separate, apart, distant from Heaven’s arms…

In the quietest places we too can find Him. If we seek Him in the manger of our own humble hearts.

And in a world where clanging symbols are magnets of sound, in a place where upset and chaos, opinions and disarray can present themselves as normal…

God lays this infant down, places him apart, separate from the chaos. He says this place is blessed, without a crown the world can see…

Without the fanfare, noise, or ragging chaos of an unsettled humanity.

And even after His birth, God doesn’t take this righteous Son, lead Him to the noise. Instead, He calls a humble few, those looking, waiting, listening….and draws them to His side…

They had been eager, seeking, but also quiet in their souls, knowing their need for a Savior.

And then, when the chaos and tide of Herod and evil hunts out this baby boy, God calls Joseph in a dream, and removes Jesus even further from the knowing, those bringing gold and other treasures to esteem Him….

See, God seems to like the quiet. The prophets, wise men, and shepherds, they heard the voice of the Father, seeked and sought out the One who they found, remarkeably knows their name.

But the parade of silence didn’t end there. Jesus grew, got baptized and started healing. Still, Jesus continually removed himself from the noise, separated Himself, to prioritize, communion with the Father.

And on the cross? Who was there? Just a few, like at His birth.

The clouds stormed, the thunder rolled, and yet, where were those who Jesus healed? The many who had swarmed around Him when He was popular, just a few days earlier?

And isn’t it the same today…the crowd is fickle? They rage when you have much, but disown the weak and humble?

Yes, Jesus again was alone. In the quiet. Just him and God. But, it doesn’t begin and stop there.

Haven’t we learned, we too are naked, yet wanting the Father to cover us? Isolated, yet craving the Saviors companionship? Crowded and distracted, but inside, wanting nothing more than the quiet and contentment found in the Father’s arms….

While the world promises praise and esteem, yet abandons us to ourselves, we learn….the Savior’s face is most clear in the beauty of the quiet waiting.

Now imagine His spirit pressed through that cloth that covered Him. Alone in the echoing silence of a tomb, everyone had abandoned Him.

The world says, “It’s hopeless”, His own disciples closest to Him, never imagined something beautiful could come from death and scars.

And yet, it was there, in the quiet, in the silence and the solace of the very grave itself, where angels roared, sin was solved, and the hope of all humanity, found it’s victory!

And I wonder, why do we cling to the noise, run to the hustle and bustle as if it has some hope or solution for us?

Why do we seek to comfort, still the voices that remind us of who Jesus is, or the state of our sin when we separate ourselves from clearly seeing and knowing Him?

Have we learned to hate repentance? Have we caved to the idea that good is found in the shouts and praises of men…instead of the face of The One, few prefer to look on?

Doesn’t scripture teach us….Jesus is always in the quiet….and if we are quiet too, still, and listen, He will give a star, send His angels, remind us in the dark, the pathway to our Savior?

My entire childhood, I’ve grown up apologizing for not loving the hustle and bustle of men, for craving the quiet, needing the stillness to guide me on my way, because….

I learned early….people are never saviors.

And yet, today, as I scour scripture, I see, we have a Savior who wasn’t foreign to the simplicity of a manger. He didn’t run or crave, or demand the fanfare of other people. He climbed mountains to reach His Father, floated on waters to awaken His Spirit….

He was born, died, and even resurrected….not in praises or cathedrals, or popular places where people loved and appealed to Him…

Yet, it was there in the quiet Jesus was rejuvinated, restored, and had perfect communion with God himself.

And those waiting, wanting, needing His touch, will also be drawn to where His Spirit dwells, in the sifting of our spirits, in the inside-out searching of the parts of our souls that hide in silence.

Yes, He will be known, when we refuse to keep secrets, letting Him be our platform, resting quiet and content, like eagerly, teach-able students.

And this season, I cannot lie….I have been filled with a striving, a noise that promises, if I work hard enough I’ll get everything done…

But I know, I have learned, I have been taught by The One this morning, that I must submit my heart to Him who finds me in the quiet, who loves those with contrite hearts, and are willing to consecrate themselves to Him…

He wants us to step away from the noise…

Because isn’t it there we are born, there we learn to die to ourselves, there we are resurrected into New Life, so we can walk in power, hope, and the resurrection love He has destined for you and me?

Will you join me? Let’s refuse to run to the noise this season; of our computers, t.v.’s, the noise of parties and the praises of other people.

Instead, lets be people still, waiting in the quiet, because we know it’s there the core of our being will find Him.

Let’s join our hearts in the hope of home. For, it is there in the stillness, eyes are opened, and we can see Him most clearly, more humbly and honestly than before…

Let’s follow His heart to the manger, though the world drowns us in noise, frequently missing the quiet and lowly.

We are people of the cross. And we can rejoice. The redemption for all humanity has finally come….

Let’s be people who intentionally still ourselves, wait, and listen.

A Savior has been born. Will you tune your heart to hear Him?