No Room
5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:5-7)
Nine months pregnant, travelling with the husband she had feared would abandon her, Mary now had a more immediate concern - finding a place to stay before her baby was born. No room, they were told. If only they had known whom she was carrying. If only the angel had appeared to others and changed their hearts like Joseph's had been changed. Surely God would make provision for God's own child! Surely God would not leave her to deliver feeling alone, with only her new husband that she hardly knew. Surely it wouldn't be this hard, this scary, this painful. But the unthinkable kept happening. And she survived. And the baby survived. And Joseph stayed. Then, seemingly out of no where, some shepherds showed up speaking of angels, looking for her and her baby. They were oddly giddy. Rejoicing! The shepherds had been told that they would find them here. Just like this. All was as it should be. They were actually exactly where they were supposed to be.
As hard as it was, it was as God intended.
Sometimes when we are not where we want to be, or where we think we should be, perhaps we can be still and realize that we are exactly where we need to be. Someone, looking for God's promise, will find joy in our presence. Rather than forsaking us, God is in the muck and mire with us - bringing peace and joy to us and through us. As hard as it is, it may be just as God intends for a purpose we can not yet see. When there's no room to move, no place to go, hold on. God is right there.
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:15-20)
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