Why Quiet Christmas Moments Can Be the Closest You’ll Feel to God

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”

— Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

It was Christmas morning, but not the kind you see in commercials. Jen’s husband was working the overnight shift, her kids were grown and scattered across time zones, and the only sounds in her house were the hum of the refrigerator and the soft tick of the clock. For a moment, she felt a pang—a sense that she was missing the “real” Christmas.

But then she did something simple. She lit a single candle on the kitchen table, poured a cup of coffee, and opened her Bible to the Luke 2 story she’s read every year since she was a girl. As she read about the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, something settled in her.

Those shepherds weren’t at a bustling party. They were in a field, in the dark, doing their ordinary job. And it was there, in the quiet of the night shift, that the glory of God split the sky open just for them.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Do you ever feel like you’re doing Christmas wrong because your December lacks the noise and the crowd? What if you’re not missing out—what if you’re positioned perfectly?

God didn’t announce the birth of His Son with a city-wide festival. He sent angels to a few tired men in a quiet field. He chose the stillness of night, the intimacy of a stable, the hiddenness of a young mother’s heart.

The loud, flashy, busy parts of the season can sometimes act like static, making it hard to hear the frequency of heaven. But in the quiet—in the early morning with your coffee, in the car after you’ve dropped off the last gift, in the five minutes you steal alone by the tree lights—the static fades. In the absence of performance, you can simply receive. In the quiet, you can finally hear the whisper of Love that changed the world.

PRAYER:

God, in the quiet moments this season, meet me. When the world is shouting, help me to find a still space and listen. Let me hear Your love not in the noise, but in the peace You give. Thank You that You draw nearest not to the frenzy, but to the faithful heart that’s simply watching and waiting. Amen.