The Night Redemption Came –  Sarah Saenz

            The night was very still. The fog hung low to the ground, the trees were giant silhouettes.  I heard the birds singing before I got in my car.  I cautiously backed out of my driveway and prepared to embark on my errand.  I drove down my familiar street , overwhelmed by the changes I saw.  I  beheld how very dark and complete the night was, I couldn’t help but wonder how the birds could sing at such a time? Why not sing when the sun was up and the world a prettier place?  The sights I knew so well were obscured and distorted .  It was 4 am and I looked at a world I did not know.  A creeping hopeless seized my thoughts and I felt nonsensically afraid.

            These were my musings early one morning as I left my house for an unusual errand.  Life presents struggles for every person and I had been quietly walking through a struggle of my own: the miscarriage of our third child.  The Lord had comforted and sustained me immediately after our loss.  But two months later, solemn grief and hopelessness had settled in and made its home inside my mind and heart.  I had cried my tears to the Lord and prayed for His understanding.  I didn’t realize He would choose that morning to answer me, but He did. 

            Watching the sky that morning I saw something remarkable.  Slowly but faithfully, the sky turned to gray.  It became lighter and lighter until the sun burst forth in full strength, bathing the world in beauty and destroying the hopelessness of the night.  I stared in amazement.  As utterly terrifying and powerful as the night had seemed, the sun had chased away every shadow.  I cried watching it happen. 

            Lord, have You come in and redeemed the night?  Do You do this every morning?

            It may sound silly, I had seen sunrises before.  But that particular morning the Lord used  something familiar to perfectly speak to my struggle.  I realized that He was THE Redeemer, He had been redeeming the night since Creation began.  This work has never stopped.  Every morning He banishes the darkness, the hopelessness, the power, and the completeness of the shadows.  Redeemer isn’t just His name, His name is a verb – it is what He does!

            How could I imagine He wouldn’t also redeem me?

            I thought about the birdsong I heard and realized how they could sing their songs before the light was even come: they knew.  They trusted what would surely happen.  It didn’t matter how dark or foggy it was. They didn’t sing because of what was happening around them, they sang because of what was coming.  They are confident in His faithful work, they sing about it before they even see it.  Couldn’t we?

            Luke chapter 21, verse 28 says, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Jesus was telling His disciples about His return and the signs they should expect to see in this verse.  If we were to say it another way, I think we could confidently say, look toward the future and be encouraged, because the Redeemer is coming!

            I imagine Israel felt much like I did in the days before Jesus was born.  Overcome by the oppression and occupation of the Roman Empire, their rich culture and traditions subject to Gentile judgment and punishment.  The night must have felt overwhelmingly complete and hopeless.  But then a Redeemer stepped into the earth and banished the power of the night.  Just like He had been doing every morning since the beginning.  He came as a tiny baby but His power was not small.  This time He redeemed all His sons and daughters – banishing the power of darkness forever.  Now when my sorrows and grief stifle my hope, I can call on a Savior to redeem my mind, my heart, my life, my womb.  He is just as faithful to redeem me as He is to redeem the night each morning.             

            This Christmas you may be dealing with struggles of your own.  Don’t forget to look up.  There is a King who loves you, He will answer your heart’s cry.  No matter what the news is reporting, the politicians are saying, the doctors are diagnosing, the direction the prodigals are running, there is a Redeemer who still redeems.  He is coming to redeem the night forever.  Await His return with singing, like the birds, and be encouraged.

O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night, O Holy night, O night divine!