It seems that no matter how hard I try, I always end up in times of silence. It's like my brain knows what to do, but none of it really connects to the rest of my body. I work hard to connect to God, but it all feels empty and pointless. It doesn’t seem like He’s there because I don’t get any responses. I may get spurts every now and then, but that's all. But when I reflect on the Christmas story, I see a lot of the same connections between myself and the Jewish people.

It had been 400 years since they last heard from God. 400 years! That's several generations who never heard a word from God. No prophets, no revelations, nothing. Just a ruthless empire that has taken over and oppressed their people. Life carried on. They still went to the synagogue and practiced their religion, but I can imagine how empty it could have felt to many of them. And I get upset when I go a few months without hearing from God?

What was that like, I wonder? I'm imagining the difference between now and the early 1600s. 400 years of history. 400 years of change. Culture has come such a long way in that time, and yet some things stay the same. 400 years. 400 years of waiting to hear from the God who promised to deliver them. Dreams of a savior who would come in and overthrow their enemies.

And then the word they've been waiting for for so long finally comes, but it's in a completely unexpected form. It's a baby. The most fragile moment in human life is how God decides to reveal himself. Not in grand fashion with some great procession in the king’s palace. There is no royal decree that was sent out to all corners of the kingdom to announce the heir to the throne. Just a baby in a barn. The announcement was made only to those of the most humble profession: shepherds. One of the lowest caste of society, and the only ones invited to witness the birth greatest king to ever live.

So when I sit and think the silence I experience, I have to remember there was a greater silence before. A long silence that surely made people impatient. Yet, God was working all the time in the background, doing things in an unexpected way.

I may go through times of silence, but God is still here. He’s still working, so I will continue to be faithful and follow. When you’re in times of silence, just be patient and know that God is still working, and be aware of the unexpected things He may be doing.