So you had a bad day…
Are you having a bad day? As I read the Christmas story, I realize that Mary and Joseph were definitely having what we would call a bad day. There’s a census and they’ve got to travel while she’s ready to pop.
“Really God? Right now? We’ve just worked out all of this stuff in our relationship and now You’re gonna send us all the way to Bethlehem? I mean you’ve spoken to us and we know you’re in the big middle of our situation, but now, though we know we’re blessed, we’ve got to travel like this.”
Not in a nice comfortable CAR, but on a donkey…an uncomfortable ride, especially for a pregnant woman who’s about to bust. Away from their primary physician and away from work, to travel. This costs money and time. They get there and you know they’re ready to lay down because this trip has no doubt worn them out…. and just when they think they’re gonna lay down their heads, they’re told there’s not a room available!
We’re sold out!
It’s a bad day!
Then they find the only thing offered to them is a stable. I doubt they walked in and were like, “HEY, this is nice”. No, they were like… “HAY, this place is filled with hay.”
Sometimes when things aren’t what we expected, it seems like a bad day.
But we can’t forget that God placed them in this stable. Look at the things God used here:
He used circumstance, He used the government (which issued this census), He used people who not only came and took all the good rooms, but He also used someone to offer what he had even though it wasn’t much (a stable). All things were working together. Even though it wasn’t pretty, it was the most beautiful thing taking place on Earth and in Heaven at the same time.
It wasn’t easy to travel to Bethlehem in their condition, yet God’s working out a detail that’s of the utmost importance. You see, in Micah, God told the people that a ruler would be born in this little town of Bethlehem.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.
Micah 5:2
Many times God is working through struggles to get you to a place where He’s destined a miracle. God used this couple to do something huge for His kingdom, and it wasn’t how or where they expected. God knew exactly what He was doing with Mary and Joseph just as He knows exactly what He’s doing with you.
Just like Mary was carrying Jesus, so are we. And many times God leads us to a place where we deliver Him into the darkness. A place where despite any struggle and discomfort, there’s a greater detail in His plan that is being made compete. So today, know that He knows. Know that He sees when things don’t go as we planned. Know that He sees when we face rejection. Know that He sees when we end up in a place that makes us wonder or question even though we’re doing what we’ve been asked to do. God knows the details. Trust in Him, even if it seems like nothing is working out. There’s no telling what He’s planning to birth out of your bad day.