1784 Humbly Available

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

God could have come to this earth guns a blazin’ with his angel armies. He could have magically appeared in his full force and power as a super giant. The truth is, God could have come in absolutely any way he wanted. And what he chose was to come as a baby. A human in flesh and blood, in it’s most vulnerable and helpless state.

Okay, so God chose to come as a helpless baby of human birth, but he still could have chosen any family in any circumstances. He could have chosen a King and Queen in a palace. He could have chosen a wealthy family. But instead, he chose two teenagers, engaged to be married, who God intentionally orchestrated to be traveling when the birth is to happen.

God could have chosen anything, and this is what he chose. So totally unlikely. And yet so totally what had been prophesied hundreds of years before.

Isaiah 7:14, written 600 years before Jesus, “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘god is with us’).”

Micah 5:2, written 700 years before Jesus, “A ruler of Israel will come from Bethlehem.”

There are more than 300 prophesies in the Old Testament perfectly foretelling the details of the coming Messiah’s birth. The probability of one person fulfilling just 48 of those Old Testament prophesies to the point that Jesus did is 1 out of 10 to the power of 157. That’s 157 zeros, there’s not even a number for how crazy that is. This is similar to the odds of winning 22 lotteries … in a row. And that’s for only 48 of the prophesies. There are over 300, and Jesus perfectly fulfilled every single one of them.

I’m a person who comes by faith naturally. It’s in my nature to believe easily. But my husband is not. He’s a 5 on the ennegram. He’s extremely intelligent. He’s a researcher. He’s a ‘show me the proof’ kinda guy. I asked him how in the world he believes in Jesus without seeing and he said, “it’s harder to believe there’s nothing. Look around. You can’t tell me this all came from nothing. And the proof is there. It’s otherwise impossible. Every prophesy is fulfilled in Jesus.”

And so it happened just as told hundreds of years before, God came to save us through his son Jesus, and he came in Bethlehem.

Bu Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. Nazareth is 90 miles from Bethlehem. But in God’s great design, just as he said hundreds of years before, his son would be born in Bethlehem. Look at the details of what God did to get pregnant Mary to the chosen destination just in time for Jesus’ birth.

The Roman emperor, Augustus ordered for a census to be taken throughout the Roman empire. For everyone to be counted properly, they had to return to the town where their family was from. Joseph was from Bethlehem, so although the timing was extremely inconvenient for Mary, they walked for days to Bethlehem for the ordered census.

Let me tell you, God was in the census! God was in the timing that seemed so inconvenient! God was in every detail, aligning his divine purposes. That’s what God does. He works behind the scenes in ordinary ways you would never know, to align us for the unfolding of the absolutely extraordinary. He IS IN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. He may not have created your circumstances, but he can work in them. He IS IN THE UNFOLDING OF THIS DIVINE TIMING. God knew you would be right where you are at this exact moment and he wants to align your next steps to be in position for his extraordinary purposes.

Even when it doesn’t make sense, you can trust him. Even when it’s inconvenient, you can trust him. Even when people have caused problems, you can trust him.

Imagine Mary, pregnant on a 4 day journey walking and riding a donkey. Imagine the discomfort. Imagine the uncertainty. Where they were going, they had no where to stay. Joseph hadn’t made reservations. They ended up in a less desirable place … a place where animals were kept. It could have been a barn, a stable, a cave, or the lower level of a house. Clearly the details do not matter because the details of where they were are not included. What we do know clearly from Luke 2 is it was in Bethlehem, there was no room in the inn for them, and he was laid in a manger. Let’s read it:

“At that time the Roman emperor, Augusts, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”

And that’s it. That’s all the Bible says about Jesus’ miraculous and humble birth. Over 300 prophesies for hundreds of years, and it happened so quietly in a seemingly unremarkable place in an unremarkable way.

God could have chosen anywhere, anyone and absolutely any way he wished, and he chose humility.

The birth of Jesus in this humble place shows us God has come to save us all. No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what your past may be, HE HAS COME FOR YOU.

He didn’t make a big deal about his arrival. His focus was on the purpose of his coming. The purpose was to save me and you.

May we show up with this level of humility. It’s not about you, my sister, it’s about God’s purposes working in you. It’s not about what you have and what you can do, it’s about humbly serving God wherever he has you with whatever he has given you.

May this Christmas be a whole lot less about YOU and what you want, and so much more about humbly making space for Jesus to do his work.

Will you make space for Jesus? Will there be room in your celebration for him? Will it be about him, or will it be about the food, about the presents, about the matching clothes and pictures, and putting up with difficult people in small spaces?

There was no lodging available for Jesus when he was born. Every hotel room was filled. Every guest house was occupied. No space. So, he was born in a humble place and laid in an animal’s feeding trough. But in their defense, the people of Bethlehem didn’t know … they didn’t know this was the promised Messiah. They didn’t know this was literally God coming to save them. They didn’t know this was THEIR JESUS. If they would have known, surely they would have made space for him.

But us … we have no excuse. We know this is Jesus. We know Christmas is the time to remember his birth. We know he deserves first place in our celebrations. We know better, now let’s do better.

Let’s gather the family and read Luke 1: 26-45 and Luke 2: 1-20 together. Let’s make a birthday cake for Jesus and sing for him. Let’s hit our knees in absolute gratitude over the unspeakable gift of God’s own son. Wow – really, he did that for you!

Let’s make space for him!

God, my home is available to you. My time is available for you. You can have my thoughts. You can fill my dreams and goals. There’s space for you in my life. I’m intentionally clearing out the clutter, I’m digging out the junk, I’m throwing out the old so absolutely nothing blocks you from entering and filling my life.

I am available. With arms wide open and a schedule willing to be wrecked, plans changed, and every other thing put to the side, this is all yours Jesus! This is all about you, forgive me for any time I’ve filled your space with anything other than you.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com