Are You Listening? by Valerie Ronald

 

There is an expectancy of hope resonating throughout time. Can you hear it?

A whisper, a murmur, a hum of anticipation beginning in a garden, rippling in a flood, rustling across a desert, then gaining volume in the voices of prophets. Someone is coming!

History thrums with portends of a coming king. In the fullness of time, God brings together nations, languages, people, and the alignment of stars. Like musical notes blending to create a singular symphony, God ordains precise circumstances for the birth of His royal Son.

Listen. Hear the stories beneath the Story. Be attentive to the fathomless mystery of God becoming man on that night long ago. Let this epiphany swell your spirit with the sounds of salvation.

Give mind to the messages from God spoken from the lips of an angel ˗˗

˗˗ telling Zechariah a son would be born to he and Elizabeth in their old age, destined to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Imagine the inner dialogue between speechless Zechariah and his God while waiting for the birth of John the Baptist; unspoken words rising like incense for a coming king.

˗˗ announcing to a young woman the news she has been chosen by God to give birth to His Son, the Messiah. Hear Mary’s sharp intake of breath, her trembling voice when she questions how this can be be, since she is a virgin. Take note of the bravery with which she declares, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”

Can you overhear the murmuring among Joseph and Mary’s neighbors as the pair leave for Bethlehem? ˗˗ catch the whisper of Joseph’s hand brushing Mary’s sleeve in reassurance? Their eyes speak truth to each other, for they know their purpose, no matter what judging lips may say.

With each footstep on the rugged path, the young couple draw closer to their destiny. Amid the noisy streets of Bethlehem, bend near to catch the moans of Mary’s labor, the frantic queries of Joseph seeking a place to stay. Finally they end up in a lowly stable, innocent creatures the only ones to welcome the Innocent One. The air is thick with the odor of oxen and donkeys, a flickering lamp barely holding darkness at bay. Mingling with brays and bleats, Mary’s cries grow more intense as her pains increase. Heaven holds its breath, bending near to catch the first cry of a newborn baby. With that cry, almost lost in the cacophony of bellowing beasts and bedlam of crowds, God speaks His Word into time.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 NIV)

Jesus Christ came as a spoken Word, sent to be heard by all who seek peace with God. He who made our ears to hear, speaks His message of love and salvation clearly in His coming. No one is denied its life-changing truth. Few open the ears of their heart to hear it; most disregard it. Many are openly hostile to it. Yet His spoken Word continues to ring down through the ages. It won’t always be so. Someday He will call those who truly hear and believe to come home to Him. Home to the place in which ~

“~ eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9 NKJV)

Are you listening? 

 

Valerie Ronald writes from an old roll top desk in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with her tortoiseshell cat for a muse. A graduate of Langara College School of Journalism, she writes devotionals, fiction and inspirational prose. Her purpose in writing is to encourage others to grow in their spiritual walk.