A Crazy Christmas
I've read the Christmas story many times. But, just like all scripture, you can read it a million times and each time it can strike you in a different way or highlight something you might have never noticed or thought of before.
For some reason, as I read about the birth of Jesus today, I thought to myself, "Boy, I hope Mary and Joseph weren't control freaks." haha Can you imagine the freaking out they would have done if they were? I mean, here they are out of town, away from what is familiar and Mary goes into labor. There's no hotel room available. No family. No friends. No help. No nothin' except a small space among some animals. Good grief, Charlie Brown! (That's a cartoon reference if you didn't know ;)
I mean, seriously, when you think through it and imagine it happening in real life (because it did happen in real life, this is no fairytale) you realize how completely uncomfortable and scary this probably was for them. I'm not sure if I would have handled it so gracefully as we see on our formal Christmas cards with a calm, well-groomed Joseph and Mary. I'm pretty sure I would be the one in the picture looking a little stressed with crazy hair and a wild prayer that would maybe go something like this:
"Really, God? Really?? Now? This is your best timing? Have you noticed where we are right now? Have you taken note of the hotel NO VACANCY sign??"
I would feel so out of control. I would be tempted to consider that God must not be aware of what is happening. I would be tempted to stop trusting and maybe say in my heart, "Someone needs to be in control right now and if God isn't going to be, then I will!"
Of course, that would be my fleshly, lean-on-my-own-understanding perspective and reaction. If I were to stop and think for a moment, I would consider that nothing about this pregnancy was normal and routine and everything up to this point had been out of my control! haha This was just par for the course! haha
Freepik.com
God asks us to trust Him. And that's easy to say when things are smooth sailing. But what about in times when nothing seems in control. Do we still trust or do we grab the reigns from Him?
Ya know what else I thought about today as I read the Christmas story? I thought about Mary and Joseph's reaction when the shepherds showed up to tell them that they just had a rockin' experience with a host of angels. I'm imagining that was just the encouragement that Mary and Joseph needed at that moment! It was a solid confirmation that God had it all in control and everything was just fine.
Let's trust God today. Let's trust the way Joseph and Mary trusted. God's got it. Even when it looks like He doesn't.
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✨🎄At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Luke 2:1-20 NLT
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