The Power of a Moment

By Mike Bill
This past fall, we centered our Sunday morning preaching around the idea of “God Moments.” Our faith is marked by the hand of God being at work in our lives…and how we remember God’s activity from yesterday determines how we will live and face tomorrow.
Max Lucado, in his book God Came Near describes the birth of Jesus in this way:
It all happened in a moment—a most remarkable moment.
God came near.
He came not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as One whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that held him were not manicured, but calloused and dirty.
No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party. No hoopla. God had come near . . . for you.
A remarkable moment…when all of human history was transformed.
But just this morning, one week away from Christmas with so much going on, I paused to consider what Joseph and Mary might have been experiencing at this point:

• Beginning the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem (about 90 miles across rough terrain).
• Leaving behind Mary’s family and the plans for childbirth that had been arranged.
• The danger of travel, especially amidst a census where many more people were moving about.
• Financial concerns as most likely the young couple did not have much money.

The first Christmas was not pretty, neat, warm, cozy, or ideal. The first Christmas was marked by disruption, chaos, fears, uncertainties, and danger. Yet, the first Christmas was orchestrated by God hundreds of years in advance. That encourages me…that God’s timing is perfect, that God is not limited by the conditions of my life, and that the coming of Christ always seems to gravitate to the “less than ideal” circumstances.
God came near…and did so in the power of a moment.
May you experience the miracle of Christmas again this year…that you would sense His nearness in whatever situation in which you find yourself this year.