LUKE’S CHRISTMAS GOSPEL OF JESUS: A 30-Day Christmas-Time Devotional.

A Very Inconvenient Time.

Luke 2: 6 (MsgB)

[6] While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Christmas Eve. 0 AD. A very inconvenient time.

While Luke’s story doesn’t record it, I’m sure that both Mary and Joseph, the soon-to-be parents of baby Jesus, had their moments when they must have turned their faces toward heaven and asked, “Why now, God?”

You see, it’s one thing to say ‘yes’ to God, offering up your prayers of “I’m just your humble servant, Lord” in the warmth and comfort of your own home. But, it’s a totally different story when God takes you up on your offer and begins doing things His way, and in His timing!

Have you ever noticed how God’s timing is so often very different from our conceived notions?

Certainly, from Mary and Joseph’s perspective, the circumstances they found themselves in on this first Christmas Eve wouldn’t have seemed like the best time and place to have a baby.

I mean, I know people back then weren’t accustomed to sterile hospitals and serene birthing rooms like we 21^st century Americans have today, but for heaven’s sake, why would a good God bring forth a newborn baby while the parents are so far away from home, with little or no provision to birth or care for a newborn child? God . . . what were You thinking?

Strange setting. Unfamiliar people. No accommodations. No privacy. No place to be at rest.

Merry Christmas Eve, guys!

Come on, God. I thought You said you liked this young couple, Mary and Joseph?

Yet, isn’t it interesting that despite this seemingly inconvenient time and setting in Mary and Joseph’s life, God apparently knows what He was doing?

God’s Prince of Peace is about to be born. And it’s a good thing too, because everything around Mary and Joseph needs some real peace right now!

So maybe, this aspect of Jesus’ birth is yet another prophetic statement to us? What do you think?

Could it be that God is saying to us that, just like Mary and Joseph, the uncomfortable and inconvenient place we might find ourselves in today could actually be the best birthing place for some of God’s greatest miracles in and through our lives?

Maybe God wants us to know that when things seem quite possibly the most ‘out of control,’ the One who brought peace on earth in Bethlehem can also step into our lives, bringing His peace that passes all earthly understanding?

^“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Jesus of Nazareth (John 14: 27)

My prayer: Thank You, God, for the reminder that when I turn things over to You, life circumstances may not suddenly become easier, but, in truth, things just might get harder. I see in Mary and Joseph’s lives that You chose the timing and circumstances for the birth of Jesus, and from an earthly perspective, that choice didn’t make things easy for Your servants. Yet through it all, Lord, Your Holy Spirit was obviously with Mary and Joseph, giving them the strength to persevere through it all, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

My questions to ponder: So, how have I insisted upon having my own way when it comes to unfolding circumstances and timing in my life? Have I assumed that just because I’m trying to follow God that life will become easy, with little or no bumps and bruises? How do I need to change my way of thinking so that I can become better prepared when going through difficult circumstances with God?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

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