The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"This Quiet Splendor"
The entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world began with a wondrous miracle of His conception in the virgin womb of Mary through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and then with what appears to have been a normal gestation and birth.
"A virgin shall conceive" (Isaiah 7:14).
"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son" (Luke 2:6-7).
Had we been privy to the Lord's conception through Divine and human agencies, we would have rightly marveled. "Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16). Thereafter, however, things seemed to have proceeded as they would any other pregnancy. This speaks to God's ways in the world, wherein the supernatural and the natural often unite in ways easy to miss if we fail to realize how our Heavenly Father works. One does not have to be a believer for long before understanding God does not often uproot mountains, stop the sun in its tracks, or conceive Messiahs in virgin wombs. Presently, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). Too many obvious miracles would negate the possibility of discovering our Father's perfection of heart because our flesh would be constantly fascinated and titillated by the power of His hand. Thus, our Father works in overtly miraculous ways when necessary, but the norm of His heart and hand involves supernatural wonders being fulfilled in natural ways seen only by those with eyes of faith.
"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).
Having been a believer for nearly a half century, I have seen glories of God's grace that can only be termed as obviously and unmistakably miraculous. However, by a large measure, I have seen the natural serve as the womb of the supernatural. Things that for all the world looked like the world turned out to be of Heavenly origin, substance, and power. I have come to expect God's hand in this way, rejoicing when He does something openly miraculous, but expecting that He will most often act in hidden ways seen only by faith. Long ago, a glorious miracle of conception gave way to a seemingly natural pregnancy and birth too wondrous to ever fully understand and appreciate. God works supernaturally in natural ways and means. We do well to expect our Father's hand acting in this quiet splendor that reveals the glory of His heart.
"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?"
(Matthew 13:55-56)
"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."(Isaiah 53:2)
Weekly Memory Verse
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
(Luke 1:37)
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