by Lenore Buth
How do you picture that first Christmas in Bethlehem?
Most of us probably imagine scenes from Christmas cards: Usually a few animals will be shown as well. Even they seem transfixed by the scene.
Mary and Joseph beam their love at the newborn Baby, while a bright star overhead shines its light directly on the stable.
How lovely, we think.
Reality would not have been so neat and tidy.
Some of us have been around sheep and cows and the like. Yes, that stable would have provided shelter from the cold night air--and yes, the animals would have given off heat.
Animals give off something else, too. Let's just say it’s unlikely the fragrances in that stable were of incense or spices.
On their own, Mary and Joseph never would have chosen such a place.
Yet that lowly stable was God’s appointed place for them that night.
Sometimes life is like that for us too, isn’t it?
Even when we trust in God. Even when we’re doing what we believe is right. Living our faith. Believing. Trusting. We end up in a place we didn’t choose and we think, that’s not right.
Days or months or years later we see the pattern.
Think how often we pray and then make what seems a good move. Maybe we go to the right.
God, however, has another direction in mind. Somehow before long we find ourselves going left.
It’s disconcerting because it reminds us we’re not as much in charge of our lives as we think we are.
This turns out to be a very good thing
Some years ago my husband and I got a big lesson in how this works. For many years we operated a modern dairy-grain farm in central Illinois. Life was good.
Then a series of events and people contacts came together in a remarkable way and we left it all behind. Thoughtfully. Lots of seeking wise counsel and prudent fact-checking preceded that move. Most of all, lots of prayer went into our decision. We had such peace it seemed we absolutely knew that God was leading us.
The move and settling in went super-smoothly and we brimmed over with praise and joy. For awhile.
Then one thing after another fizzled out. There we were, asking Why? It made no sense. At the time.
Later we could see God's leading through all the twists and turns and we thanked Him our original plans did not work out. If they had we never would have arrived at the good, satisfying place our loving Father had opened for us.
Through it all we learned to trust Him in a deeper way than ever before.
We came to understand He knows the way, even when we think we're lost
Joseph and Mary believed God in what seemed an impossible situation. They believed He went before them, no matter what.
Then came the Emperor’s decree that every citizen must go to their town of origin. No exceptions. For them, that meant they must go to Bethlehem, the City of David—about six miles away.
Joseph walked, leading the donkey while Mary, in her ninth month of pregnancy, must have been thankful for that humble animal that allowed her to ride at least partway. All the way, they must have been asking each other—and God—"Why?”
Late in their journey Mary felt the first pangs of labor. Once arrived at Bethlehem, Joseph searched frantically, but could find no rooms anywhere. Finally, an innkeeper told him they could stay out where the animals were kept and where they would have shelter. That’s where Jesus was born.
And God lit up that humble place with His light and His love.
He can light up our lowly places, too
Every one of us occasionally spends time in situations we would not have chosen. All we can do is keep walking and pray God will bring good out of our pain and confusion.
Christmas reminds us that we don’t have to understand, we just need to follow in faith, knowing that HE knows the way.
Because Jesus was born we can have hope in the middle of our dark times when we cannot see the way ahead. The times we ask, “Why?” but can’t allow ourselves to give in to fear.
Here in the nitty-gritty of our lives, God comes to us at just the right time, just as on that starry Bethlehem night so long ago—and He stays with us.
Jesus, the Light of the World, shines His love and peace into our darkness.
Jesus, our Savior and our Lord, our true Best Friend Forever.
(To read the Christmas story for yourself, turn to Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-20.)