hopes and fears...

It's easy to be scared. Truth be told, I've probably spent more days of my life being afraid rather than being brave. Of course, I've let myself become scared over things that weren't even my reality at the time. I would begin to fear from reading the news. I would hear someone else's story and fear that maybe, one day, I'd find myself in the same situation. Fear is a funny thing. Often times, it's simply a mind game. But once you begin to feel afraid, it's hard to find any sort of courage or convincing comfort to drive that very fear away.

I opened my Bible to read in Matthew the other night, and I landed on the passage where Jesus begins to tell his disciples about the signs that would indicate his return and the end of the world. He began to tell them that wars would break out, that there would be famines and earthquakes. He informed them that they would face persecution, be arrested, and would be killed. He spoke of widespread hate, of rampant sin, and he stated that love would grow cold. And yet in the midst of all of this he said to them, "... but do not panic... those who endure to the end will be saved."

Do not panic.

Do not be afraid.

And although we know that we are more than conquerors through Christ, it's still so easy to be afraid. To feel overcome, threatened, paralyzed by fear. To worry and fret and wonder if God really is in control. Yet tonight, as I sat at church and listened to the words of an old, Christmas song, I remembered why we don't have to be afraid.

Oh little town of Bethlehem

How still we see the lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

 

Yet in thy dark street shineth

The everlasting light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight....

 

 

A little town. A small, humble town where the Savior was born. A town that existed in what is now one of the most unstable places to live. God knew that. He knew exactly where he was sending and son and who he was sending him to. To a young mother who, coincidently enough, was informed of her pregnancy by an angel who said, "Do not be afraid...". Because, as we well know, sometimes life can be scary. Even when God is in control and we know it. Even when God sends us the clearest of messages, fear can still creep its way into our hearts.

 

But I was reminded tonight that in the darkness, in the wondering, in the waiting and the despair, all of our hopes and fears were delivered through a tiny baby boy's cry as he entered into a world that had long awaited his arrival. The fears of the unknown. the fears of being abandoned, forgotten, forsaken we're gone. Because God was here, is here, with us. No longer was he the mighty creator that could only be approached by the holiest of holy. No, the Holy of Holies stepped down into the world, into the lives of people who were full of hopes and fears, and he brought light. Light so that they could see. Hope so that they wouldn't give up. Comfort for their fears, and peace for their confusion.

 

And the same One who laid in a manger that Christmas Eve is the same One who resides in our hearts. Who hears our prayers. Who sees our steps and knows our thoughts. Who has a plan, a purpose, and who is coming again soon.

 

And so we celebrate Christmas. In the midst of a dark, cold, difficult season, we turn our eyes to the manger, to the Savior, and we remember that in the silence, in the stillness, in whatever it is we are facing, we don't have to be afraid because of what took place over 2000 years ago in that little town of Bethlehem.

 



"Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace." - Luke 1:78-79