Christmas Is When I Remember When God Did Nothing


The Bible teaches that God never sleeps nor slumbers. It's a reassuring truth to know that God is always on the job. Sometimes we may feel like he's not doing anything though.

That happened to Martha. Her brother, Lazarus, had been very ill so she and her sister Mary sent for Jesus. It was 4 days before Jesus arrived, and by then Lazarus had already died. When Jesus did finally arrive Martha ran out to meet 
him and we find her words to him here;

"'Lord,' Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died." John 11:21

She's really asking, "How come you didn't do anything?" We know the story, and know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. We know that God is always at work, but his ways are not our ways, and his timing is most certainly not our timing. Yet, the thought of God not doing anything is a thought that I always have at Christmastime. It comes at Easter as well when we celebrate the resurrection.

God has done some incredibly powerful things throughout history and in my life. He's a God of wonder who performs miracles. The incarnation, God becoming flesh, was definitely a miracle. The resurrection was a miracle. But accompanying the two greatest miracles of all where times when God did nothing.

Mary took the baby, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. Can you picture it? God in the manger? He can't walk or talk. He can't do anything. He just laid there doing nothing. He would do it again at the end of his life. Nailed to a cross he would be challenged and taunted by the crowd. "Save yourself!" But he just hung there. Doing nothing.

It would seem to me that the most powerful things God has ever done were the times when God didn't do anything.

The Manger
"They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger." Luke 2:16

The Cross
"When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left." Luke 23:33

Remember when you see the baby laying in the manger that even when it seems like God is doing nothing this doesn't mean nothing is happening. In fact, it's usually when God is up to something big. Trust him.

"He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God'." Psalm 46:10

Following the Son,

James A Williams

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s My Turn To Be The Pop

Image
“ Children's children are a crown.” Proverbs 17:6 One year ago today my phone rang. I was looking forward to this call. “Hey, Dad. How are you?” “I’m alright.” (Standard response) He wasn’t alright. The cancer, chemo, and treatments had taken such a toll on him. This was Josiah’s birthday though. His first birthday. My Dad always called everyone in the family on their birthday and sang to them. He never missed anyone’s. It wasn’t pretty, and became a comical family joke yet we all looked forward to it.  I called for my son, Nathaniel, who brought his son, Josiah, over to the phone. I held the phone to Josiah’s ear and Nathaniel and I pressed in as we all listened to Dad sing. His voice was raspy and labored. Josiah’s eyes danced. Nathaniel and I smiled and laughed. Tears filled my eyes. He couldn’t stay on the phone long. He tired quickly and speaking was difficult. Josiah’s first time hearing his great grandfather sing Happy Birthday would also be his la...
Read more

What’s In Your Cart?

Image
On this day in 1939, Sylvan Goldman who owned the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain got an idea. He was trying to think of a way for his customers to transport more groceries around his stores. He attached 4 wheels to the legs of a wooden folding chair, and then attached a basket to the seat. The shopping cart was born.  Before this shopping trips to the Humpty Dumpty or the Piggly Wiggly would be limited to what you could carry in your arms. I wonder if Sylvan’s original patent stated that one of the wheels was to either not spin or rapidly shake back and forth? It’s possible that this is some modern improvement on his original design. However it happened the carts keep getting bigger. When I bring my groceries to the check out counter I sometimes use the self check out. I don’t like the self checkout because the computer keeps telling me I put things in the bagging area when I didn’t. When I get a real person they will often ask this profound question. “Did you find ev...
Read more

Get The Rebound

Image
If you've ever played or watched basketball you know that rebounding is a huge part of the game. If you're unfamiliar with the sport rebounding is quite simply getting the ball when a shot is missed. You can't score without the ball which makes the play of great importance. It's not unusual for a team with a higher shooting percentage to lose a basketball game because they were out rebounded. On the court what you do when you miss can be even more important than making shots. It's true in life as well. Everyone misses shots, but that doesn't mean you've lost the game. Get the rebound. "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Proverbs 24:16. People won't always give you the chance to rise again. For some your shortcoming is how they'll label you forever. Get the rebound anyway.  It was the historian Froude who wrote, "The worth of a man must be measured by his life, not by his failure under a singular a...
Read more