We all get occasions in our lives when we see something that makes us stop and stand in awe. It may be a glorious sunset, or a waterfall or a flock of starlings making patterns in the sky. Some have travelled north into Scandinavia to see the northern lights of gone to Canada to stand at the edge of the Niagara Falls. We can describe such experiences as breathtaking, but often such sights simply are inexpressible.
One of these that I experienced was just over twenty years ago when my wife and I were working together at Murree Christian School in Pakistan. We were house parents to nineteen children, all of whom were aged six to nine years of age. School life followed a fairly regular routine, but, occasionally we would take them out for a special treat. On this occasion it was nearing the end of the school year so we went from Jhika Gali, where the school was sited, to Murree for an “evening out”.
For our evening out we went to a little restaurant that was nicknamed “The Cockroach” by the kids at school for the universally popular chicken tikka. This little restaurant had three advantages that made it popular with all the folk at school. Firstly it was clean, in spite of its nickname,; secondly the food was good and also cheap. But most of all, if you were able to get a veranda seat, the view was spectacular.
Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, Murree was situated seven thousand feet high and the view from the restaurant had never ceased to amaze me as we looked out over a deep, green valley that seemed to stretch to eternity.
As we sat there with a lot of very happy, and very noisy, children, I sensed that the blue sky was turning dark. Conscious that we were in the monsoon season, I leant across and said to my wife, “We’d better get a move on, I think there’s some rain on the way!”
In haste, we managed to move our nineteen charges out of the restaurant and up to the taxi rank to get back to school. The taxis in that part of Pakistan were small Suzuki pickups with two benches and a canvas hood over the back for the passengers. Normally these could carry four passengers, maybe six if people sat close together, but in Pakistan it was normal to see everyone packed into the seats like sardines and half a dozen or so more clinging to the outside with the rear axle dragging the floor. As we piled the kids and two adults into the back, the driver didn’t flinch but obviously thought that this was a reasonable load. I climbed into the front with the driver – as the only male in the party, it was expected that I would have the “privileged” seat up front.
As we set off, the rain hit us. Now up to that point, I had seen the monsoon rain on several occasions, but this was different. Now we were driving through it, and it was rain like I had never seen before. To say it was like a waterfall was an understatement and the lightning was crashing all around us like an artillery barrage.
As we arrived at the school, the storm was raging with full force and we all got in totally soaked but also, in my case, with a sense of wonder at the raw power that I had witnessed.
As we see such spectacles, many attribute them to what are called the “forces of nature”. I prefer to look at such amazing things as the display of the power of God. But we have to ask the question, “Are these things a true display of how great God is?”
There was a man in the Bible by the name of Job, and we read in chapter 26 of the book of Job of how he reflected on the works of creation. As he contemplated the power of God, he had to exclaim, “These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power.
Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”
If the might of nature as we see it is just “a whisper” of the power of God, then how can we estimate His true power?
Let us go, for a moment, to a manger stall in Bethlehem where we see a newborn infant. That little child, so weak and helpless to human eyes, would grow up to be a man in whom all the fulness of the Godhead was contained in bodily form. And that man would willingly die a cruel death upon a cross so that the greatest display of the power of God could become a reality to you and me – the power to forgive.
God created the universe with all its magnificence at His word, but the work of salvation cost God what was most precious to Him - His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Key Verses (LSB)
Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was going to be registered for the census, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child. Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guest room.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
And it happened that when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it marveled at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary was treasuring all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as was told them.
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (22/12/25)
Written by STEPHEN TRESEDER
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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