Now through the end of December, a chance to re-examine the gifts of Advent, the arrival of a Savior, and the epiphany of Epiphany.
Psalm 37:7a Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.
We don’t know a lot about silence. And if we do, we are often uncomfortable with those spaces in our lives. Yet in God’s economy, trees planted by the water draw nourishment and bear fruit from the silent earth, and babies from the silence of the womb. A modern psalmist put it this way: How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given… No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin; where meek hearts will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.
The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Zechariah, a priest who can’t believe the Angel Gabriel’s message that a son will be born in his old age; a child who will prepare the way for Messiah. Because of his disbelief, he is sentenced to silence for nine months of waiting. When Zechariah can speak again, he is a changed man, one whose mouth is full of faith and praise.
God works in the silence of the soil, and in the silence of our hearts. Underneath the surface, even when we don’t understand or agree with what is happening, God is knitting, nourishing, and making ready. No ear may hear his coming, but he enters the chaos of our world with both strength and tenderness, doing a work that none of us can predict or understand.
Prayer: Giver of good gifts, help me trust that in your silence, you are at work in a way that will someday amaze me, and help me trust you for the things I can’t yet understand.
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