When You Feel Spiritually Numb - Your Nightly Prayer - December 22nd
Your Nightly Prayer
Audio By Carbonatix
By Candice Lucey, Crosswalk.com
When You Feel Spiritually Numb
Your Nightly Prayer
By Candice Lucey
TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” (Psalm 51:12)
SOMETHING TO PONDER
I came to a saving faith in Christ in my 30s, by which time I had read, heard about, or seen The Nativity play many times. The Peanuts Christmas Special probably gave me my first real reference point, but my parents also shared a few of the highlights every December 25th, which is also my birthday - I learned mostly that the baby was born in a manger and that Magi brought gifts, but never thought to ask what a manger or Magi were. When I was about five years old, they told me, “You were born on the same day as Jesus,” as though I shared a celebrity birthday, but I did not understand that he was THE REASON for Christmas; that Christmas Day is only special because of him. Only later did I realize that Christmas is all about the birth of Christ - that “Christmas” literally means “Christ’s Mass”, when Christ-followers celebrate that he left his throne to live among us before going to the cross and being resurrected from the dead. We celebrate this special day in anticipation of his return.
With my newfound faith in Jesus as Savior and King, I started learning about the Nativity in greater depth: all of the hardship that Mary and Joseph faced; the real significance of angels going to the shepherds with their news; of Jesus’ humble birth; of Mary’s and Joseph’s respective decisions to trust God and take on their difficult role as parents of the prophesied Savior. I thought I had lost the wonder of Christmas, left it behind with stories about Santa Claus and flying reindeer. Instead, Scripture has been revealing to me a new and deeper sense of awe as I explore the Nativity each Advent Season with fresh eyes, hungry to understand Mary’s and Joseph’s faith. I yearn to know the Savior who would leave the comfort of Heaven for the heartbreak of humanity.
We often want to associate the lost magic of Christmas with fanciful tales we can never believe as adults because they are ridiculous, but fun. A bearded man in a suit slips down the chimneys of every home around the world in one night? His reindeer fly? Beautifully decorated trees, glossy wrapping paper, and colored strings of light are facets of a special holiday season that is most lustrous when we are children or when we have children in our lives through whom we can vicariously experience the wonder once more. But when we worship the risen Savior, the awe of Christmas as a secular holiday is replaced by something richer and more miraculous because it is real. Beautiful, magical traditions that illuminate a dreary season are only a hollow sleight-of-hand: they do, however, point to an event of lasting supernatural significance which can inform a sense of joy and wonder at any stage of our lives.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father, please restore the wonder of Christmas to my world-weary heart as the Advent season begins. Let the first candle stir my emotions more deeply than the first day of a chocolate calendar ever could, or the earliest bursts of lively seasonal music played on the radio. God: Your Son came down - how can I not be inspired with awe when I realize what that really means? And yet sometimes I DO forget to regard that event with the respect and wonder it deserves - that HE deserves, right now. I’m still waiting for him, and let me wait joyfully, knowing that I have never seen anything or anyone as beautiful as Jesus Christ. No eight-foot decorated fir tree can ever be as wondrous as He is. I will see his face one day, and cry for joy in the presence of his power and love.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
1. Jesus was a real baby. He had to go through the indignities of helplessness, endure illness and injury, and experience the changes of puberty. How awe-inspiring that the Lord, our Savior, really does know what it feels like to be a human being, weak, awkward at times, and vulnerable.
2. We are wedded to this Savior, and therefore, our start in this new life of faith is the same as his. We cannot wear our crown as co-heirs of the Kingdom until we first live in humility as children in the stable, refugees from our own world, on the run from the powers that want us dead. The wondrous gifts of faith come at a high price, and we might have to endure a lot before we receive our full reward: eternal life in the presence of Christ.
3. If we ever think the joys of a secular life are worthwhile and we might as well trade in the hurt of Christian faith for the relief of a vague agnosticism, we are trading in something of eternal value for superficial and short-lived “gifts”. Even when the happiness and spectacle are at their best, they never last, and we are left feeling hollow. This is because anything other than Christ cannot really satisfy for long. Besides, we were made for union with our Creator. He came to meet us, and he is coming to get us. We just don’t need to sit vigil near a decorated fir tree watching a chimney for activity. He’s coming on the clouds (Revelation 1:7), and he doesn’t need flying reindeer to get here.
Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
Photo Credit: Rodion Kutsaev/Unsplash
Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Find out more about her here.
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