Advent at Ararat - Day 16: The miraculous often appears in the mundane.

"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I don’t know what we think needs to happen in order for the miraculous to be made manifest. The idea that the miraculous is somehow always preceded by some eerie otherworldliness is not a biblical concept. Indeed, a thorough examination of the miraculous throughout the Bible will illustrate that more often than not, the miraculous abruptly interrupts the monotony of everyday lives.

The most miraculous event to ever happen to man: the birth of our Lord, had just happened in a stable and He was placed in a manger, a feeding trough for livestock! As we have discussed, you can’t get more lowly or mundane than that. And—to continue that theme—the first announcement concerning the Lord’s birth is given to lowly shepherds!

We will—in the next couple of days—discuss why the announcement was made to shepherds; for our purposes now we look at the unlikelihood of shepherds to both see and hear an angelic host proclaiming the good news of the birth of our Lord.

I think it’s safe to say that most people—at one time or another in their life—become tired of their daily existence. Some people respond to this scenario with a surrender of despair; others can do ridiculous things to try to bring some excitement into their otherwise mundane existence.

Now, I am a person who appreciates the miraculous in the very creation surrounding us, the miraculous in things actually going right most of the time, and so on. I tend away from boredom. However, I do appreciate that it is easy to begin to think that your routine has become your destiny. However, in terms of our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, and all that He has for us, that could not be further from the truth. In fact, our routine—what we reckon as mundane—is that through which the Lord most often chooses to show His marvelous deeds, His miraculous doings.

For today meditate on the fact that the miraculous is indeed all around us all the time. In fact, your very life is miraculous. With that, it is important to remember that those exclamatory moments of life we all cherish can be just moments away. As you look to the Lord, meditating on His goodness, He may send a fresh reminder of the glory of His presence, the wonder of His love, illuminating the darkest night.

Peace to you

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