Restless hearts, be still. For unto us a child is born. They will call Him the Prince of Peace. This sweet child will deliver us all from the steady hum of sin that is so of this world. He will release us from the hum and grant us peace.
She is so young and so afraid. She did not understand why God chose her; she still does not understand. The man she travels with was chosen by God. He is so much older. How was she to know that he wouldn’t harm her child? How was she to know that he has enough love in his heart to see them through this night?
They walked for days. Tired, beaten down and weak; she was ready for it to be over. They were partaking in the census just like everyone else. She couldn’t understand why a child meant for extraordinary things would be born of such ordinary circumstances. She felt worthless, but she would obey because she loved nothing in life more than her God.
Arriving in town, she was ready to sleep. As she dreamed of sleep with her eyes still open, the first pain hit like nothing she had ever felt before; she knew that life was coming. As the pain of her contraction sharpened, her heart welled with desperation. They had to find somewhere to stay.
Hours passed of screaming and sweating. The smell of the donkey to which she clung only enhanced her despair as she realized that there was nowhere for them to go. In the distance, shouts from her husband hung in the air, blurred into darkness and drowned out by the intense pain of childbirth.
Before she knew it, she lay in a bed of straw. Her husband stood above her with sweat on his face and tears in his eyes. She cried out in pain, she cried out to God -- struggling above all to cling to her faith. She cried out.
Then, there was peace. The sweetest sound of a baby’s cry rose above the animal noises around them. Dried tears cracked into a smile when her husband handed her the tiny prince. Taking the clothes off of their backs, they wrapped Him up tightly. As they laughed and cried, the visitors came and bowed down before the King.
There was power in His cry. There was healing in His eyes. His hands were gentle. And she knew that this child was not her own. And she was no longer afraid but rather, granted the most incredible sense of peace. Her faith lifted her spirit to the stars above. With absolute joy, she looked down at the Son of God and sent silent prayers of gratitude to her Father above.
Restless hearts, be still. For unto us a child is born. He enters the world humbly so that we might remember that God uses the feeble, tells a story that we can understand and shows us the great grace in little things.
