December 15. The Christmas story can become so familiar that we read it without thinking or attending to the details. Unless, one commits to journaling through Advent—then God draws your attention to all sorts of things you had never noticed before! Today I realized that as much as the story is about the birth of our Savior, it is also about listening to God. In fact, the entire unfolding of the Christmas story as recorded in Matthew and Luke revolves around people hearing and obeying God.

Consider the following…

*An angel of the Lord tells Zechariah that Elizabeth will bear a son and they are to name him John (Luke 1:11-20). Even though Zechariah did not believe it possible and was punished for his disbelief, the events came to pass and he obeyed the angel’s instructions (Luke 1:21-25 and 57-66).

*An angel comes to Mary and tells her she will conceive through the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26-37). Though Mary did not have instructions to obey, she willingly accepted this call that must have seemed bizarre to her. Her response: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38a, ESV)

*Joseph considers divorcing Mary quietly but is visited by an angel in a dream and told that her baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that he is to take her as his wife and name the baby Jesus (Matthew 1:18-23). He obeys the angel’s instructions (Matthew 1:24-25 and Luke 2:21).

*The shepherds also receive a visitation by an angel, telling them that the Savior has been born and instructing them as to where they will find the Christ child (Luke 2;8-14). The shepherds recognize that God revealed this to them for a reason and go to see the baby, where they declare all that the angel had told them.” (Luke 2:15-19)

*The Magi who go to visit the Jesus after seeing his star, were warned in a dream not to return to Herod who had instructed them to let him know where he could find the baby. They went back to their home a different way. (Matthew 2:1-12)

*An angel instructed Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt because Herod was about to search for the child to destroy him. He obeyed. (Matthew 2:13-15)

*An angel instructed Joseph to return to the land of Israel once Herod was dead, and Joseph obeyed. (Matthew 2:19-21)

*Joseph was warned again in a dream when Herod’s son took the throne, so he took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth. (Matthew 2:22-23)

*Simeon was led into the temple by the Holy Spirit, where he saw the Christ child as the Spirit had promised him. He blessed the child and his parents. (Luke 2:25-35)

Basically, the entire Christmas story depicts a pattern of God speaking to His people and them listening and obeying. I cannot help but think that this is a pattern God intends for us to notice and emulate. Our lives should be able to be chronicled in just this way—as a series of incidents in which God gives us direction, we hear Him, and we obey. As Moses declared to the Israelite people: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his will, and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a, NIV)

I cannot say that my life reflects this pattern yet. The first part certainly didn’t, but I hope the second half of my life will. Perhaps that is a picture of the Christian’s walk and the process of submission to God’s will. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27, ESV) While God knows us intimately before we are even born (see Psalm 139), we must develop our relationship with Him through prayer and studying His word in order to familiarize ourselves with His voice.

I think of the boy Samuel, Hannah’s son, whom she gave to the Lord. He lived and ministered in the temple in the service of Eli, the priest. God began to call out to Samuel, and each time, Samuel went to Eli, thinking he was the one calling. Finally, Eli recognized that it was God who was calling the boy and told Samuel how to reply to God. Samuel grew to be a prophet of the Lord, “and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” (1 Samuel 3:19) Even living in the temple and serving the Lord, Samuel had to learn to hear from and obey God by first learning to recognize his voice.

I think the turning point for me was Lydia’s birth. God spoke such clear direction to me about her life, and obedience produced dependence and submission and peace. That made it easy and desirable to continue to seek Him, which eventually led to us to adopt Timothy. His life was a pure faithwalk for me. And his death was one-step-at-a-time, holding God’s hand the whole way.

But the ultimate example of listening and obeying in my life (so far), has been the adoption of Titus and Tess. I’m not sure I have ever shared the degree of resistance we received when we were presented the option to adopt first Tess, then Titus. Some people were incredulous that we would even consider taking such a risk only months after what seemed a catastrophic loss. Some people even stepped out of our lives, possibly to avoid witnessing an expected repeat “disaster.” And most of our military medical community not only advised against going forward but even fought our efforts to bring the twins to Virginia.

But God never wavered in his leading and instructing us. I love to go back and read my prayer journal entries from the weeks in which we came to know about Tess and Titus and were chosen as their forever family. God’s hand was on every step of the process. He gave clear direction, and thankfully, we heard and obeyed. If only I could live in constant obedience to Him.

Lord, thank You that You speak to me and guide me. Help me to listen for Your voice and obey Your instructions. My desire is to trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, but in all my ways acknowledge You, and You will make my paths straight (Proverbs 3:6). Like the Christmas story, I hope my life one day looks like a series of snapshots of someone hearing and obeying Your call. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“And your ear shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21)