Sometimes life seems empty and devoid of hope – but even then, God is, by His Spirit, with us.
Because just as He was there before the creation of the world, so He remains when our day-to-day lives seem meaningless and absent of anything of worth.
And He was there too in the 400 years that took place between the Old and New Testaments, between the prophet Malachi and Matthew’s account of the Christmas story, during which time He said nothing.
But the long dark days of His silence shouldn’t be taken to mean that the one who had once spoken the universe into existence was no longer there – nor that He wasn’t active.
On the contrary, He was waiting – for just the right moment to do what He always said He would, and send into the world the one who would save His people.
Which is exactly what He did on that first Christmas Day. God then hadn’t been absent – rather He’d been biding His time.
Because when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [Galatians 4:4-5]
So then, because God is, and because He always keeps His promises, we need not be devoid of hope. Even in the emptiness we may feel today – in the unanswered prayer, the ongoing illness, or the perpetual loneliness – we need only to believe, we need only to trust, and we need only to wait patiently.
For at just the right time, when we need Him most, the Lord will surely come again – just as He surely came on that first Christmas Day.
To read Day 1 from 2023, click here
To read Day 1 from 2024, click here
Some musings 