Away in a Manger

Have you ever thought about what it was like that first Christmas? I mean what it was really like? Maybe it's just the daydreamer in me, but I have so many questions. Questions that I just like to wonder about. What was it like for Mary, a girl between 12 and 16, to be visited by an angel? She was a nobody. God had not spoken through the prophets to His nation Israel for 400 years, yet they were still waiting expectantly for the Messiah. They didn't know how He would come...many didn't recognize Him because they thought He would come as a great and mighty king to overthrow the Roman rule and free His people. Think about this young girl getting this news from the Angel. Who was she to believe that she would have anything to do with the Messiah, and what did she think about the news that He was coming in the very weakest of human forms--a fetus? And what about Joseph? What courage and reckless faith it would have taken for him to believe, and decide to still wed a girl who in the world's view had already been unfaithful to him? How did Mary tell Joseph, anyways? How did she tell her parents? How did they react? What thoughts were going through Mary and Joseph's minds in the months that were leading up to Jesus' birth? Did Mary ever wonder, "why me?" How did she wrestle with the knowledge that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, alive in her womb? Did she feel anxious and fearful about what being the mother of God Himself would be like? At the very least, she must have felt totally and absolutely inadequate. How do you parent God incarnate?

Have you ever thought about the night Jesus was born? It was probably not anything close to a "silent night!" I can only imagine the rush of people that must have been crowding the streets of the little town of Bethlehem. The inns were full to bursting! Bethlehem could not fit one more couple. What was Joseph thinking as Mary went into labor and he had no power to provide for her comfort or even adequate shelter? To all those people crowding Bethlehem, Jesus was just another baby, Mary and Joseph just another couple. How many stopped to acknowledge that their Messiah, God in the form of a baby, had just been born? It was just a normal night for so many people. Were there any others besides the shepherds who gave the average couple and their baby any attention? How many times do we go about our business, unaware of what God might be doing right underneath our noses?

As we all get wrapped up in all the joy and bustle of the holiday season, I encourage you to take some time to quietly ponder the reality of Christmas, and thank God for His most precious and inconceivable gift to us--a Savior that would grow up to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and bring us back into fellowship with God.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Ceylan

When Hard Times Come...

What is the hardest thing you've ever been through?

I've been thinking about the topic of suffering lately. For my literature class, I just finished reading "The Trail of Tears" by W.A. Swonger. Seeing the inhumane suffering that the Native Americans went through at the hands of the white Americans was convicting. As John Quincy Adams said, the Indian Removal Act was “among the heinous sins of this nation, for which God will one day bring them to judgment.” 

However, reading the book was also an encouragement. The author wrote very openly about the way God uses suffering in our lives. Is all suffering good? Much of it is evil, but God is greater than the evil, and many times He will use suffering in a Christian's life to make them stronger in character, so that He can use them for His purposes later.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that life is not all flowers and daisies. It is not easy, and a lot of times it's not fun either. Many times it's just downright painful and confusing. But you know what? That's okay. Because God is still on the throne, and He is sovereign over all of life...even the painful, the difficult, and the confusing.

Glory to God!
Ceylan