Are you experiencing a longest night? Ready for new beginnings?
December 21st at 9:27 CST begins the unfolding of the winter solstice.
In the northern hemisphere, the earth is tilted so that the north pole is furthest from the sun. Sorry, Santa! What this means for humans north of the equator: the lonest night has arrived. Sorry, us!
But the longest night signals a move toward something new – longer days that come after the longer nights have had their time.
A Longest Night in Nazareth
Joseph knew about long nights and new beginnings.
At their engagement, Joseph could not have imagined Mary pregnant with a child he knew wasn’t his. Nor could he have guessed this new beginning would sink his reputation, thrusting him to the forefront of people’s gossip and small-mindedness.
The new beginning Joseph had in mind was anything but what it turned out to be.
Have you ever entered something that wasn’t what you thought it would be?
- work
- marriage
- parenting/fostering
- caregiving
- grief
- love
- forgiveness
- ________ fill in the blank
Along the way, did God reveal something more required than what you had the capacity to give?
- more time
- more energy
- more sensitivity
- more flexibility
- more humility
- more grace
- ________ fill in the blank
Joseph’s initial solution was to quietly dismiss Mary. It makes sense, honestly. Who wouldn’t have assumed her deception?
Tossing and turning, Joseph “considered” the matter.
This was no simple listing of pros and cons and chossing the better list. There was no better list.
Translation: Joseph was a first-century hot-mess of a man.
But God had a new beginning for Joseph–one that placed faith in the unseen God over trust in the tangible expressions on other people’s faces.
New Beginnings Aren’t Always What We Expect
But they’re pregnant with possibilty and promise when God has planted the new beginning.
The One who called you is faithful, and He will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24, NLT
Translation: you and I are not alone.
Though we may feel or be ill-equipped, God is not.
Three Choices that Lead Us from the Longest Night to New Beginnings
1. REMEMBER that what’s true about God in the light is still true about God in the dark.
If God is kind when you get a promotion or some unexpected opportunity, then God is also kind when you’ve been handed your notice or given until the end of the day to pack your things and leave.
If God is gracious when you are gifted words of praise from family, friends, colleagues, and your community, then God remains gracious and sufficient when they turn away.
If God is generous as you enjoy abundance in your home, car, and job, then God responds to you generously when you are forced to walk away from it all–as he responded to Joseph.
What do you know is true about God in the light–when you’re sleeping soundly?
Remember this when the longest night makes its entrance.
2. RECOGNIZE who you are and who you are not.
I love the way Michael Card empathized with Joseph in Joseph’s Song:
Lord, I know he’s not my own. Not of my flesh, not of my bone.
Still Father let, this baby be. The son of my love.
Father, show me where I fit into this plan of Yours.
How can a man be father to the Son of God?
Lord, for all my life, I’ve been a simple carpenter.
How can I raise a King? How can I raise a King?
Did you hear it?
Just a simple carpenter.
Joseph’s new beginning awoke and married Mary with all that that would entail. And all that it would cost.
He was to name Mary’s son Jesus and raise the boy as his own.
That was Joseph’s new beginning.
Not understanding how it all happened. Not preventing people from coming to their own conclusions.
Not silencing their judgment of him during his longest night.
New beginnings grow in the small and faith-filled practices of a person whose life is given over to God rather than trying to be God.
What new beginning is God calling you to right now?
3. RECEIVE the darkest night as an invitation to draw near to Emmanuel, who drew near to you.
New beginnings unfold when you make yourself available to God who promised to draw near to the brokenhearted, the confused, and the disoriented.
What does that look like? Perhaps praying a prayer like this one:
Father, there is no darkness or confusion in You. Though long nights settle all around me, You continually go before me. You are with me and you’re working through me—watching and waiting as the watchman guards his post.
Remind me who You are when everything makes sense so that when it doesn’t, I remember that You are faithful to lead me through whatever is before me.
Like You did for Joseph, alert me to Your voice leading me from my longest night to Your new beginnings.
I am Yours. Amen.
What new beginning awaits your surrender?
Comment as you are comfortable. And know that I join you in praying for a quiet surrender and deepening trust.
Until next time, may you be enfolded by God’s Presence in your longest night and the generosity of His Faithfulness into your new beginnings.
Jennifer