Lyrics & Reflection on Light Shining out of Darkness

Labor of Love

(from Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God")

~

It was not a silent night

There was blood on the ground

You could hear a woman cry

In the alleyways that night

On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean

And the cobblestones were cold

And little Mary full of grace

With the tears upon her face

Had no mother's hand to hold

~

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

With every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love

~

Noble Joseph at her side

Calloused hands and weary eyes

There were no midwives to be found

In the streets of David's town

In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed

Shafts of moonlight on his face

But the baby in her womb

He was the Maker of the moon

He was the Author of the faith

That could make the mountains move

~

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

With every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love

~~~

As the Christmas season and week have so suddenly crept up on me, I'm thankful for the moments I've been afforded when I can pause and reflect. The image I've had in my head this season has been that of light shining out of the darkness, and how that night in a cold cave in Bethlehem changed the world forever. I reflect on how very harsh that night must have been: no sterile and safe hospital, no friends surrounding them in the midst of their fear, no certainty of where they would go from there...just a simple man and woman bringing this baby into the world, a baby whose birth would change the course of human history. A baby who would go on to shatter the sting and victory of death. It's hard to wrap our minds around at times, but then there are moments when we get a glimpse of the personal nature of that night. This has been a difficult year for me and my husband, and I am brought to a place of peace and rest and hope when I think on Jesus' birth. On the darkest of days, there is the hope of light breaking through the darkness. I read the familiar account of Christ's birth in Scripture, wondering if this is how Mary and Joseph felt. At the end of that dark night, they were given the gift of life in the birth of their baby, and that baby was the Giver of life Himself. What a miracle - "...the baby in her womb, He was the Maker of the moon, He was the Author of the faith that could make the mountains move."