A Silent & Holy Night

 

I woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve without a voice, dashing my remaining dreams of singing a solo during the Christmas Eve church service. The final score was in and the cold/flu virus had won.
With no voice and only hours till the service, I made a quick edit to my Christmas list. Miraculous cold/flu recovery took the top spot. I even detailed my wish list by narrowing "quick" down to two or three hours - tops.
Well, one hour and then two hours passed and my voice did not return. I tried sipping tea and gargling salt water to revive my lifeless vocal chords but nothing helped. The best sound I could produce was a squeak and that was painful for everyone involved - both squeaker and listener alike. When the clock ticked past noon and my wish wasn't fulfilled I conceded to my Christmas Eve fate. It was destined to be a very silent night and, as I soon discovered, a very holy one, too.
It was after willingly conceding to a voiceless fate on a snowy Christmas Eve that God fulfilled my Christmas wish with a gift I never thought to ask for.
Silence.
Without a voice to speak I became silent, truly silent. Silent enough to hear God speak to me with a new message of Christmas, one I hadn't been quiet enough to hear.
His message said, "Stop...."
Stop trying to be your own salvation. Stop trying to make all of your plans succeed. Stop trying to be the one who is bright....Stop your worrying. Stop your fretting. Stop your mind from wandering to your concerns....Just stop and behold the new born King....Stop and see that Emmanuel has come! Stop and bow low before the Savior of the world who is with you in your midst.

This Christmas Eve God gave me a gift of a stilled voice and quieted soul in order that I stop, fall down and worship before Emmanuel, my Lord and Savior, the new born King.