Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus fulfills hundreds of Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. And yet so many people missed the appearance of Jesus entirely, when He lived physically among us. In particular, the religious scholars of His day — the Pharisees, the ones who were supposed to be teaching people what to look for in the Messiah — did not recognize Him. Why?

Centuries after Jesus lived, died and rose again — and after countless stories of people coming to know Christ — we still fail to recognize Jesus. Why? In some cases, we choose to deny the truth of His promise. What is Jesus’ promise? That if we love God and love one another, we will share in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Luke 10: 25-28)

Is Love really that powerful? The Bible shows us that God’s love for us is never-ending — and that His Love cannot be quenched. (Song of Solomon 8: 7) The Bible tells us that plainly God’s Love is more powerful than any force. (Colossians 3: 14) Jesus Himself shows us that Love has the power to cover a multitude of sins so that we may move forward in our lives toward goodness. (1 Peter 4: 8)

Still, we sometimes choose not to believe in the power of Love.

At other times, we decide that loving the way Jesus loves is too difficult. Jesus’ kind of love asks us to place the needs of others before our own. (Luke 10: 25-37) His kind of love pushes us to embrace God’s plan for our lives instead of our own plans. (Ephesians 2: 10) And Jesus’ love is always grounded in humility. (John 13: 1-20) In a world growing noisier by the minute, it seems counterintuitive that quietly loving and serving others can bring us peace and fulfillment and joy.

Sometimes we fail to recognize Jesus simply because we are looking for Him in the wrong places. We are actively seeking Jesus and we want to know Him; and we are also expecting big things from Him — an undeniable, large sign in our physical world that proves Him to be near us. But Jesus is not in the big things — He is in the stillness and smallness of life:

“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not there; and after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” 1 Kings 19: 11-13

It is in the stillness — and sometimes even the darkness — of our lives that we find Jesus. Why? Because when we step away from the physical distractions of our lives, we are able to connect with Jesus heart to heart, and spirit to spirit. We also find Jesus when we look for Him in the small things of the world.

A beautiful story about this can be found in the book titled, Mister God, This Is Anna. The book follows the adventures of a young runaway named Anna. A kind man named Fynn finds her on the docks of London, and takes her in. As the man cares for her, Anna teaches Fynn about finding and knowing God.

One night, Anna and Fynn meet an old man named Woody, who lives in a shanty-town part of the city. It’s late, but this part of town is alive with people. Woody invites Anna and Fynn to sit with him by the fire. Anna asks Woody why he likes living in the dark. Here is his answer:

“‘In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes, for they in thee a thousand errors note; But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise.’ His nut-brown chuckle broke the spell. ‘Do you know that one? It’s one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.’

“‘They,’ he said, and his arms swept to embrace the world, ‘will tell you and encourage you to develop your brain and your five senses. But that’s only half of it, that’s only being half a human. The other half is to develop the heart and wits.’ He ticked them off on one old gnarled hand with the end of his pipe. ‘There’s common wit, there’s imagination, there’s fantasy, there’s estimation, and there’s memory.’

“Old Woody’s face turned upward, his spirit danced and was warmed out among the stars, while his body remained with us and was warmed by the old tin-can brazier. ‘Never let anyone rob you of your right to be complete. The daylight is for the brain and senses, the darkness is for the heart and the wits. Never, never be afraid. Your brain may fail you one day, but your heart won’t.'”1

This book excerpt reminds us to step away from the physical distractions of the world so that we can know and hear Jesus. Jesus speaks to us in the quiet of our hearts. Sometimes we miss Jesus because we look for Him only in the physical things of life. Jesus comes to us in the stillness.

This Christmas season, I hope we can all make extra time to be alone with Jesus. He is waiting for us so expectantly, in the quiet and stillness. He has so much to tell and show us.

Jesus loves you very much.

1Sydney Hopkins, writing under the pseudonym “Fynn,” Mister God, This Is Anna. (New York: Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1974), pages 151-152.