Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice. (1Kings 19:11-12)

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Words of Wisdom for the Weekend ~ The Light in Dark Places


"The people who walked in darkness 
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone."
~Isaiah 9:2~
"The message of Christmas is not that we can make peace. Or that we can make love, make light, make gifts, or make the world save itself. 
The message of Christmas is that this world's a mess and we can never save ourselves and we need a Messiah. 
For unto us a child is born. 
The Light never comes how you expect it. It comes as the unlikely and unexpected—straight into Bethlehem unlikely and the feed trough hopeless, and Christmas whispers there is always hope. It doesn't matter how dark the dark is; a light can still dawn. It doesn't matter if the world whispers, 'There's not a hint that help will come from elsewhere,' telling us that nothing will ever improve, get better, change. God favours the darkest places so you can see His light the brightest. 
And once the light of Christ shatters your dark, shadows forever flee your shadowlands. There's no going back and living in the dark; you live in impenetrable, safe Light of light, and Christmas never ends for you. A Christian never stops living Christmas."
~Ann Voskamp, 'The Greatest Gift'

***
{Words for Wisdom for the Weekend: These are words that I have been challenged or encouraged by that I have read throughout my week that I kept pondering; words that I couldn't get off my mind and heart throughout my week. 
For other Words of Wisdom for the Weekend posts see here.}

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful quote to meditate on. We can't predict God's timing, or His ways but we know He is loving and compassionate. Have a blessed advent Sunday! (Your photo is great!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow!! I've always loved Isaiah 9! What a great reminder in verse 2 that we still have His light to guide and give us hope! Thanks for sharing the beautiful excerpt from Ann Voskamp!
    Blessings to you! Ann @ Christ in the Clouds
    http://christintheclouds.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your mantle vignette speaks it all ... in focusing on Him there is peace. Thanks for this lovely reminder, written in that soft, gentle voice ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful image! Thanks for linking up! Merry Christmas...always!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A truly thoughtful, heart touching combo of photo and words. Made me do some "hmmm-ing" while reading. Very good. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so loving this book from Ann. Lovely photo too. Merry Christmas to you.
    Much love,
    Beth

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...