A Look Inside of Christmas

As a child I loved to be given a maze and a pencil. I readily accepted the task of beginning at the starting point and navigating my way to the finish. I went to a County Fair and my experiences with the mazes on paper prompted me to go through an actual walk through maze that was constructed with tall maniured bushes. This experience was not the same as the one with the pencil. Looking at the maze from above was different from looking at the maze from within. Every dead end caused me to question everything, to reevaluate my decisions, and even question if I would ever make it to the finish line. Through faith and perseverance (and the help of the attendant at the fair lol) I made it through, but the experience was vastly different.

I have discovered often we read the bible from a panoramic perspective, and discover a beginning, middle and end, and expect the same results in our lives without immersing ourselves in the text to discover the type of faith that was necessary to yield these results. So being Christmas Eve, instead of looking at the package from the outside, let’s take a peak inside of the story of Christmas.

1.) Mary and Joseph are living a life devoted to God planning for marriage, and are given something from God that they didn’t plan for, (When these instances occur in our lives, What do we focus on it being from God, or the fact that we didn’t plan for it?) something out of their control. Their immediate response was not an organ playing, tambourines ringing, clapping and shouting, but rather fear…Come on, if you are engaged and your fiancé takes a pregnancy test, and its positive, and when you confront her, she tells you, “The Holy Ghost got me pregnant.” What would be your response? “For real Mary? The Holy Ghost got you pregnant? Right, we will see when we take a paternity test on Maury!” When God impregnates us with His promises that don’t fit our agenda do we deny them, abort them altogether, or embrace them trusting and believing that God’s plans are greater than ours?

2.) Mary and Joseph exhibit unprecedented faith during the pregnancy and birth of Jesus (compare Joseph’s response to Mary’s pregnancy with Zacharias’ response to Elisabeth’s pregnancy Luke 1) Despite the situation they repeatedly obeyed the voice of God on when to flee to Egypt and when to travel to Israel. I desire to have the connection and not only ear to hear but the faith to obey His voice when He speaks. I want to turn down the voices of my situations and thoughts so I can clearly hear the voice of God.

3.) From the moment Jesus was born he was sought after to be worshipped by some and sought after to be destroyed by Herod. Imagine the gravity it takes to be both revered by some and hated by others. You can’t become consumed by either. Can’t get caught up in the hype of those who are for you, or driven by fear of those who are against you, but must remain focused on the purpose God has given you.

Without the faith of Mary and Joseph, the savoir of the world is not born and redemption of mankind does not occur. God in His omniscience knew who he could trust with carrying the savior. My prayer is that God can trust me, that I will handle my pregnancies of purpose and destiny, the same way that Mary and Joseph did, despite any adversity. There are miracles, purpose, and destiny inside of you, and God has trusted you to birth these things, to cultivate and nourish them for the benefit of the world. I want to repeat the words told to Joseph by the angel, Fear not! What is inside of you is conceived of by the Holy Ghost, and if God gave it to you, that is an indication that He trust that you have what it takes to bring it to pass!