There’s an Amy Grant song that I found a few years ago, that I absolutely love:
“I need a Silent Night, a Holy Night; to hear an angel voice through
the chaos and the noise. I need a midnight clear, a little peace right
here; to end this crazy day with a silent night.”
I don’t know about you, whether man or woman, parent or not, but by the end of Christmas day I badly need a silent night. A night in which we don’t have to run from one house to another; a night in which I don’t have to hustle children to bed way past their appointed hour; a night in which I can just sit and be silent.
It’s not easy to be still, putting aside the endless to do list: To be Mary at a very Martha time of year {Luke 10:38-42}. But as our Savior said, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
How many of us choose to do during this time of year, to seek out the perfect Rockwell-ian Christmas, only to be exhausted at the end of day, feeling tired and empty. As though another chance has come and gone and we’ve some how missed something. Guilty as charged.
We can’t have it all. We must decide what our priorities are and how we will achieve them. And that is a hard battle, to put aside our own expectations and to truly embrace what our purpose is, not only during this season, but through all seasons of our life.
In that choosing there is really only one priority: Jesus. If we allow His will for our lives, in all things, we will find not only peace, but His peace, which is the greatest there is. If we choose to not allow Hallmark to tell us what the perfect Christmas season is, but God; we will find renewed Joy in these tired days of December.
When the world is clamoring so loud in our ears and minds then there is no way that we can hear the Lord and His gentle words for us. Even if it is only a few minutes stolen away here and there throughout your day or week, they are moments of silence, moments in which you can speak to God, asking Him to fill you with His peace, to remove all those un-peaceful and chaotic things. Moments in which you can hear God speak to you.
This January I not only invite, but challenge you, to seek God’s peace and will for your life: To not get caught up in the hubbub of existing, but to be still in the knowing of God {Psalm 46:10}. Actively pursue God, whether in what you are reading {I recommend the book “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp}, what you are seeing, or what you are listening to {music, sermons, etc}.
He is already there, just waiting for us to put down the clutter of this life; allowing Him to take us in His arms.
