Have you ever heard of the Christmas story? 👶🏼🧕🏻🧔🏻♂️
A yeah, duh, question for sure…but here’s another one:
Have you ever asked God to show you something?
When it comes to that last question, I’m sometimes amazed at
a) how frequently I forget to actually ask
(Even when we are instructed so clearly to ask and it will be given)
b) and how surprisingly and wonderfully God answers.
Many of you know that my husband and I taught kids in church for years and years, and that means that for years and years we’ve been telling the Christmas story.
Mary and Joseph.
The census.
The trek to Bethlehem.
No hotel space available.
The barn.
The manger.
The shepherds.
The angels.
The baby.
Our Savior…
And scene.
I know that sounds…disrespectful seems too strong, but perhaps irreverent works?
But are we not just inundated with this story??—so much so that it can really lose all sense of its meaning and it’s the most important story EVER. Our entire salvation depends on it.
So—
Many years back I was praying about teaching our kids in church this lesson on Christmas Eve, and picturing the kids’ eyes glazing over and I asked the Lord—
Lord, they know this story. I want this story to MEAN something to them, so show me something to share that will be new and fresh.
That’s the prayer of my heart every time I share anything, really.
So I share with you now, what the Lord shared with me, then.
Joseph and Mary didn’t know the end of the story.
We know—EVERYONE knows that Jesus was born in a manger. I daresay we can’t drive a mile or two in any direction or walk through any store right now and not see a nativity scene of some sort.
But all of us are right now living in a reality that we didn’t know would exist at one time.
There was a time that I didn’t know my husband. And a time where I knew him but didn’t know he would be my husband. A time when I had never met any of my children but can’t imagine my life without them—it’s hard to conceive of the fact that they weren’t always there.
But there was a time I didn’t know.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)
So there was a time when Mary and Joseph had no idea what was in store.
But they clearly had hearts that were turned toward the Lord.
Both were willing to listen when they were visited by the angel and told of God’s plan.
But even with the plan spoken to them, they still didn’t have the complete picture. They’d HEARD about it, but it hadn’t HAPPENED yet.
I picture them on their way to Bethlehem. How long was the trip? I think about how anxious I was when I was readying for our first baby. So much uncertainty. And I SO wondered what my baby would look like. Act like. Who the baby would be.
And then…Mary and Joseph, finally getting to Bethlehem, and then going to the first inn and getting turned away. Was it the only inn? Did they go place to place? Stopping at inn after inn is how I’ve always seen it depicted but I don’t find evidence in my readings of the scripture whether they went to one inn or many.
I’ve been in a “no room at the inn” situation. Twice. It’s nerve-racking. It happened once quite recently when I was on a late-night road trip through some remote stretches in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. I had utter confidence in my travel app to find me a room but as we approached each little town
(How did I not KNOW how very little all the towns would be? And how dark the road?)
As my son drove, I’d search and look for a room—any room—and there’d be none, OR the room would literally disappear between the time I hit “purchase” and the time the screen refreshed. We were running low on gas, both literally and figuratively, and there weren’t any gas stations popping up either…
What were Mary and Joseph thinking as they got turned away?
Lord, this was YOUR idea. We thought we heard you clearly. We’d think You’d have made arrangements for us ahead of time...
How is this going to turn out?
WE know the story. The whole story. WE know it so well that it’s a foregone conclusion and unless we stop to think about it inconceivable to NOT know how it was going to go.
But they didn’t know. And had to trust God, just like we do.
We’ve been made for good works that God has planned beforehand for us to walk in.
He has plans He’s already made for us—plans for good and not evil. To give us a hope and a future.
No angels have appeared to me, but just those above two scriptures are enough for me to go on. Like Abraham, I can go to the place He will show me.
I’ve thought of this story at so many junctures in my life.
At the time the Lord unfolded the concept of Mary and Joseph not knowing how the birth story would turn out, I was brand newly married and in my senior year of college, and freaking out that I had no job lined up and had moved back to my hometown of El Paso where I’d been told all my life there was no opportunity.
I was so scared, and had no idea how it would turn out.
I’ve thought of the Mary and Joseph story before the birth of each of my children and during the many months leading up to the adoption of our daughter.
I’ve thought about it when we were anxiously applying to college for each kid. When I’ve changed careers.
And am thinking about it now as we re-imagine our lives as parents-of-adults, and even grandparents.
I am thinking about it in light of Flight Deck Life School and launching new courses and products and venturing out into new territory.
I think of this in light of two of my core beliefs—these beliefs are so integral that they are two of Flight Deck’s five values!
- Better is out ahead—always, and
- Life should be fun, fulfilling, and fruitful.
There are things in store for us that someday will be a story.
For my first example, when I was wondering if I’d ever get a “real” job? I prayed. And I identified what mattered to me and what I wanted. And God came through on all counts. It’s a miraculous story for another day, but after it happened, it was just a story. Felt as though it had always been, just like every happening.
We all have B.C. and A.D. lives happening.
I challenge you to consider any areas of your life, your future, maybe even your kids’ or some other loved one’s future, that has you feeling uncertain and anxious.
God knows the end from the beginning and has good plans for you.
Instead of fretting, and just waiting to see what happens, take some time to identify what you really want. To ask the Lord to give you some dreams and desires.
We are heading into a new year, and that year will pass and we will look back on events and be living in realities we haven’t yet conceived of.
But just like Mary and Joseph—God knows. His promises hold true. And He will come through for us.
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