Surrounding us this time of year we hear "Joy to the world", "Jingle Bells", "It's the most wonderful time of the year", and other cheerful songs of the season, but Christmas isn't always a happy time.
Just two days ago, I watched an 83 year old man kiss the love of his life good-bye as he saw her for the first time in her new surroundings...a beautifully carved wooden box they picked out years earlier. Holding onto 65 years of precious memories, yet unable to stand or even speak, his weeping and groaning filled the room. No one in the room could comprehend the loss he was experiencing, and although we stood witness to a deep, deep pain, no one could adequately interpret his groanings.
Romans 8:25-26 says, "But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words".
I find this verse comforting; God's Spirit speaks with groanings that have meaning far beyond what can be expressed with mere words. God's Spirit perfectly understood that man's loss and pain...providing undefiled, perfected communication with God. And God certainly hears. Acts 7:34 says, "I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free."
Soon after Jesus' birth, He was sought to be killed by the king. I'm sure God heard groanings of despair from Mary and Joseph. God sent an angel to direct Mary and Joseph, along with Jesus, to a place of preservation and protection.
We have a God who hears our groanings as we live in a world filled with disappointment and pain. As He hears our groanings, and interprets them perfectly, He comes to set us free.
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