”Putting the Stable in Relationships” Advent Devotion for November 28, 2021

Putting the Stable in Relationships
…the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.  --Matthew 4:16

We all go through times in life that we might call our own “dark night of the soul.” It is hard to believe in the dark. Finding our way through the darkness requires us to have markers along the way. We need those signs that remind us that we are not alone. Sometimes that may be another person that assures us of their presence; or it might be words of a phrase or song that speak of goodness and the reassurance of life itself.

One such sign was found in a small house in Germany after World War II. The home had been a “safe house” for hiding Jews trying to flee the horrors of the German death camps. These words had been scratched into the baseboard in one of the bedrooms.
“I believe in the sun when it does not shine. I believe in love when I cannot feel it. I believe in God when God does not speak.”

Often, the word that inspires, the witness that encourages us, the marker that points the way, can come to us from the darkness itself. In turn, our own “dark night of the soul” will often turn into a handhold, a marker, and a sign along the way for another who travels the darkness.

One of the assurances of Advent is that God still comes into the darkness of humanity and the events of this world and transforms lives. This transforming presence has come to us through Jesus the Christ. When we can picture that the coming of Jesus into our lives began in a humble stable, it may be the sign or marker we need to remind us that God is with us in all the seasons of our lives and in all our relationships.

Loving God, thank you for the stable that reminds us of the birth of Jesus the Christ that is a sign of your presence with us in our relationships and in the midst of all things. Amen.
-- Jenny Arneson, Lead Pastor

 

Podcast read by Bill Anciaux