Reshaped: Day 10 - Mary
Obedience
Reading Luke 2:1-7
A census was called by Caesar, and every man was to return to the city in which he was born. Joseph was tasked to bring his pregnant wife on a ninety mile journey to Bethlehem.
Nothing in this event was convenient. Imagine a woman in the final stages of her pregnancy riding a donkey across dusty roads for ninety long miles. When they arrived she went into labor. But there were no vacancies at the local inn for her to deliver the child. Imagine Joseph’s angst, the man tasked with raising the Messiah couldn’t even find a place to safely bring the babe into the world. What a distressing situation!
The only place available was a dirty manger surrounded by farm animals. How could the babe be brought into the world on a bed of straw and laid in a watering trough? The most important birth the world ever encountered completely devoid of royal treatment!
But the manger perfectly reflected the many sacrifices both Joseph and Mary would make even when their footing was seemingly out of place.
Nothing in this event was convenient. Imagine a woman in the final stages of her pregnancy riding a donkey across dusty roads for ninety long miles. When they arrived she went into labor. But there were no vacancies at the local inn for her to deliver the child. Imagine Joseph’s angst, the man tasked with raising the Messiah couldn’t even find a place to safely bring the babe into the world. What a distressing situation!
The only place available was a dirty manger surrounded by farm animals. How could the babe be brought into the world on a bed of straw and laid in a watering trough? The most important birth the world ever encountered completely devoid of royal treatment!
But the manger perfectly reflected the many sacrifices both Joseph and Mary would make even when their footing was seemingly out of place.
Questions
- How often difficulties can make us feel as though we have lost our way. When, in fact, God was orchestrating our steps all along. When have you felt lost only to realize your odd footing was where you were truly found?
- What does this teach you about God’s higher thinking?