One Ordinary Night

The air was cool and crisp. It was quiet and peaceful. Most of the world slept, after just going to bed and following their usual routine. They may have laid there thinking of what things they had to do the next day and how to solve certain problems in their lives. Mothers may have been tending to a sick child, fathers trying to get as much sleep as possible before another long working day began.

Life was normal, usual, nothing out of the ordinary by any means.

And then it happened. The sky filled with a heavenly light. A light so bright that men had to cover their eyes. What was this, what was happening?

This was no ordinary night.

What had once been a routine, now became something new. What had once been a burden, now offered redemption. What had once been hopeless, was now overflowing with hope and meaning.

In one night, the whole world changed. In one night, the lives of millions of people who had not yet been born-was changed, forever. In the blink of an eye, after one ordinary, normal day.

The God who formed the universe by saying a few words, could now say nothing audible except for a tiny cry. The One who uses the mountains as a footstool, could not even stand on two legs. The God who had never needed food or nourishment, was now dependant on a woman to feed Him. The One who holds eternity in His hand, now grasped the finger of His mother.

Immanuel.

God with us.

All of God, yet all of man, wrapped up together.

Suddenly our lives don't look so ordinary anymore.

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,

and they will call Him Immanuel"-which means "God with us".

Matthew 1:22-23