Awaiting His Birth

Christmas is coming soon, and that means I’ve been listening to Christmas music pretty much nonstop. One song on my playlist is the song, “Winter Snow” by Audrey Assad and Chris Tomlin.

The lyrics of the chorus follows:

You came like a winter snow

You were quiet, and soft, and slow

falling from the sky in the night 

to the earth below.

While I still really love that song, the melody, singing, and words are so pretty in lots of ways- it still made me think about the night that Jesus was born, and I can’t help but think about things a little differently.

I think back to my own few hours of labor I went through with my kids, and I would not say it was the most peaceful of experiences. All I was thinking about was wanting the pain to stop. When will I finally see my baby? Am I getting any closer? Surely I’ve labored long enough. I’m ready for all this to be over! My body was exhausted, and I didn’t think I could handle any more on my own.

Flashback to the scene surrounding Jesus’s birth. Mary and Joseph had traveled very far and long on a journey all because of the decision of the Cesar. There was political upheaval;  zealot Jews who wanted to overthrow the government; religious leaders using their political and “spiritual status” to assert themselves, dishonesty, sickness, and the list continues.

And here is Mary and Joseph, ending up in a stable- and in labor. When I think about it, I find myself so amazed and in awe over the contrast that was happening that night. There she is laboring, feeling intense pain- the very pains which were a direct result of ours and her sin- sin that this baby was coming to break the bonds of! Amidst the political, moral, and physical chaos of the broken world that they experienced every day- the answer was being born.

Sometimes I can get distracted by the serene nativities, or the tidiness of storytelling and forget that the world Jesus was born into was so messy.  Those birth cries Mary may have thought are ones that can be echoed by us all today. Echoed as we are faced with the brokenness in this world each day. Echoed as we hurt or see our friends hurt from the physical effects of sin. Echoed as we see injustice continue to thrive.

Are we getting any closer? Can the hurt be over? We are exhausted, we just can’t do it anymore! When will the pain stop? 

Amazingly though, we get to answer them-

Yes.

He’s here. You can’t do it, but He has come to do it for you.  He provided the way.

Oh, thank you Jesus!