Come with me for a moment to the inn. You’ve travelled a long road and a difficult one. Your heart is heavy and your soul laden with care. Mary’s journey 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 offences 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 the 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 travellers, 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 one, 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 straw 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, desolate place and you got to know, He’s still there today ~ in all the places of broken, hurt, pain, insecurity, nothingness, emptiness, loneliness, ridicule and rejection. If that’s where you find yourself on this day in real life and in real-time, He’s there with you. You can know, He’s been there, done that, and knows your hurt. He came to light the darkness, mend the broken, heal the pain, forgive the sin, save the sinner and bless the soul. He desires to give you all that you need, right here on the mud floor, at the inn of rejection and perhaps bitterness this day. Rest there, in the stable with Him and let Him show you the way out to victory in this celebration of Advent! Aren’t we thankful for a Savior who left the glories of heaven to be born in such a lowly place in order to reach out into all the lowly places around a world in need?
1 John 4: 1 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So today, maybe we all just need to inhale God’s grace and exhale His praise. Maybe we all just need to sit still in His presence and recognize who He is and what He means to us in all of our ups and downs, highs and lows, in and outs, faults and all. Yeah, it’s a hard day of just plain nothing but “All gone wrong” and everything seems so misshapen and outta sorts. Where’s the joy when the world’s in a mess and your world follows close behind in it’s messed up footsteps? The 
Oh, what comfort for our crumpled spirit and our broken world. God is in charge and He will be exalted in your situation and in your circumstances if you rest “Still” in Him and know that He is sovereign over all. Rest then today beautiful one ~ right now ~ you who are broken, and shattered in your brokenness just be still in Him.
So there’s most likely a whole bunch of us tired tonight. Victims of stuff that happens in daily routine. Sometimes don’t we even wonder why, as it seems that nothing out of the ordinary has happened, it’s just everything all coming together into one big conundrum without any reprieve. Oh, aren’t we needing quiet rest for the weariness of our beings and for the healing of our souls? Yeah, the body is willing but the mind is weak, and sometimes we just can’t shut it down or shut it off and find sweet peace in there somewhere ~ anywhere. We’ve done dinner, and dishes and kids and laundry, yes, even on Sunday, and we’ve done more dinner and dishes and kids and laundry, yes, even on Sunday. We’ve dealt with issues, hurts, bandaids, snacks and pets, and ministries and services, people and did I say kids? Yeah, big ones, little ones, newborns, fighting kids and obnoxious kids and selfish kids and more kids and does it ever stop long enough to catch your breath? No, not likely ~ not until you’ve totally flopped back on that bed, eyes closed, breathing a quick sigh of relief five minutes before a whailing cry pierces the dark! Maybe teeth, maybe tummy, maybe sniffles, maybe nightmares, but you mom, are up to deal with it. And you were so tired too. It doesn’t seem fair, and this motherhood thing, this sweet pic of motherhood, seems way bigger and longer lasting than the books ever painted it!
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 