Come with me for a moment to the inn. The journey's been difficult and long with your heart and your soul heavy with care. So was Mary's journey! It was difficult too as she carried the heavy load of a babe, the Savior of the world, about to be delivered. Can you imagine the ridicule she must have taken from those who knew her? The offenses she felt along the way? The rejection she must have faced in the event of God's calling on her life. Oh yeah, her journey was difficult and her road to Bethlehem was painful, but that was just the way it had to go down so that God could work His plan.
See the inn? See how busy it is? See the baggage left in heaps by so many travelers, so weary, so worn, so anxious to get lodging for their weary bodies and aching feet? Mary needed it too and imagine Joseph, caring so deeply for her but being told, "Sorry, there's not a room left here. All I can do is show you a stable." A pieced together shack lined with straw for the animals? Yeah, but it was shelter for the night and a place to lay a couple of weary heads, and hearts and minds, so it was all good.
Have you been there at all? To a place that doesn't offer much protection or stability? A place of vulnerability? A place where hurt runs deep? A place everyone has the spotlight but you or maybe the critical spotlight is on you and only you and it's not comfortable because what been said is not true? Have you been there? Where everyone has the shelter but you? Ah, beautiful soul, And then ~ there's your baggage! That dreadful baggage! That dreadful, heavy load you've carried from pillar to post for so long! It's overwhelming too isn't it? But there's hardly a place to put it down for the night except on a dirty, mud floor in the midst of straw? But really, beautiful soul, just lay it down, even there. Give it up! Let it go! Forget it! And forgive it! ~ The journey's over for now! It's time to find a quiet moment's rest for a few hours. Something new is about to happen.
Mary and Joseph put it down and rested there on that floor of mud and the Savior of the world, their Savior, began there! It's there they met Him face to face. It's there where God became flesh in that obscure,
My Hope In Him
So just let's all breathe tonight!
A topsy, turvy world and a little personal, Christmas chaos can throw even the most organized into flat-out Christmas conundrum real quick. So much bad news! So many things just all gone wrong in the big picture today. Ahh, today~ So many suffering! So many sick! So many with so much excruciating weight to bear. Families torn apart with argumentative spirit, disagreement and just right out strife. It seems the enemy calls the shots and takes the win on so many fronts. No one can give in and no one can agree and so it hangs on and puts everyone on edge and over the edge! Ah but 'Tis Christmas though, the season of holly, jolly joy and love and blessing, all wrapped into one, but it's, well...it’s up and walked off the face of your earth, leaving you high and dry in that topsy, turvy world of yours and so really now, who cares about the twinkle, the fuss and the seriousness of Christmas anyway?
So beautiful one, with beautiful soul threshing about, we’ve a Saviour of light who was born into the deep darkness of this world and born into the bleakness of our world and born into the chaos of our world to bring hope to our world, because He came to live among us just to die for us. So how can His death paint a pretty picture for us at Christmas time? Thing is, He didn't stay in the manger! He grew, He lived, He taught, He felt, He hurt just as we do. He knows our pain, He feels our rejection, our loss, our chaos. Just because He’s been there, all the way to the painful rejection and on to the agony of the cross but it wasn't the final chapter. He didn’t stay there. His empty grave became our victorious moment when death lost its sting! Because He conquered death, He made a way for us to escape its penalty.
His birth announced with the surround sound of the heavenly hosts and the brightest star of all time that one, lonely night, ushered in a glorious hope and a the turn-about for the redemption of man and a lost world. Yeah, our hopeless, helpless world! His world that He so loved! His birth was God's plan of action to set a really messed up world right with forgiveness and salvation. But the baby in the manger h
I wonder how close we might be to Bethlehem today? Right now! Right where we are, in the middle of a million things? Can you reach out and touch that quaint, old, town sign that says its name or have you gotten lost and off track? It might be a bit broken and rusty or bent out of shape now, as the celebration began so long ago right? Today, though, See it with your soul eyes. "Bethlehem!" Ah yes, there it is... I wonder if you know the Hope that was born there that night can be as close as your heartbeat? Yeah, it didn't stay in that little town on that night. It traveled around the world and it forever beats in the hearts of God's people. Does the awesome gift of Hope from God resonate and radiate from you? Does it affect your everyday living? Your thinking? Can you feel the depth of its magnitude deep in your soul, or have you sunk deep into the conundrum of Christmas chaos?
What a sweet gift He presented to the world in that crude manger of straw surrounded by everything 'less than perfect!' Grasp that picture of Hope for a broken and imperfect world! Then reach out to receive a fresh touch for you! The thing is, it's so much more than Hope isn't it? It's a joy and a peace of mind and a really gentle hug from God to message us that it's ok. Everything really is ok", and in that "million and one things" to-do list, His gift of Hope is the stable banner at top to get you through. Hope? Yeah, it's our salvation for the soul of us and the help for our day. Because He came, Hope is our gift to receive and recycle to keep on giving. So you see, it's all well and good! The birthing event of our Savior in Bethlehem, even though so long ago is really very close because the Hope He gave to the world that night, He gave to us and it's a sweet gift that keeps on giving to our soul, day by day, moment by moment! Unwrap it and share it so others can be brought closer to Bethlehem in their journey of broken and hopeless. <3
#Advent #GiftofHope
