Tonight as I sit here writing, one of our family dogs lays curled up on the ottoman at my feet. I’m his favorite of all our family members, though—in truth—it probably has something to do with my keeping his food bowl full! Seymour loves to be outside, but his preferred activity is to rest all seventy-five pounds of his sweet self on my lap. On especially busy days, he remains near me, patiently waiting until I sit down.

It can be hard to find rest and peace during these busy days. Whether driven by internal or external expectations, we’re carried downstream by our fast-paced culture. Even the Christmas holidays can become little more than a checklist of tasks and events. But if we were to look back on a quiet night in Bethlehem, what would we discover?

The piercing light and sound of angelic voices broke into the still, night air, causing the shepherds to initially be afraid (Luke 2:9-10). As the angels’ exclamations and expressions of worship settled into their hearts, however, the shepherds became alert to a divine presence. Their feet “hurried to the village” as their hearts chose to make God’s timeline more important than their own (Luke 2:16). How ironic that in their urgency to make God’s activity their priority, they found true rest. They enjoyed the moment, and in doing so, God in all His glory became the center of their speech, the center of their world (Luke 2:17,20).

Like the shepherds, Mary knew she was living in the miraculous (Luke 2:19). To what extent, she could only imagine, but she rested in knowing that God was weaving together what couldn’t yet be understood. May we seek to find the same wonder and rest in believing “the Lord [will] do what he said” (Luke 1:45). —Regina Franklin