All in the Plan

It must’ve been quite dark already. A woman large and pregnant moaned to her husband in the dimly lit cobblestone street, ”Please, we must find somewhere to stay. I am so exhausted. There must be a place.” Her husband shook his head in bewilderment. They were in an unfamiliar place, one of many travelers who were being required by law to go to the towns of their ancestors. A new husband, he hoped his new wife with her pregnancy emotions wouldn’t blame him for their predicament from the wildness of her sleepy mind. “I’ve been trying and trying to get to a good place where we can stay,” he replied slowly. “I guess l need to start asking around for a little corner of someone’s barn or something. I’m so sorry.” But his wife was too tired to reply. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the Miracle who was squirming uncomfortably in her belly. The exhausting travels of the day had done their work in her, and although a first time mom, she was quite sure that the feelings she was having must mean that tonight would be The Night.

Her imagination flitted to the cozy scenes she had envisioned for the moment she would give birth. True, she had brought along some cloth for wrapping the baby; but there was so much they hadn’t been able to bring with them to this ancient, brimfull town. 

I sure do wonder what she thought, when her husband led her into a dirty, smelly barn for the night. The Night. In my current pregnant state, I can imagine quite well how my soul would recoil at the thought of stable boys and animals sleeping and making noises near me while I experience one of life’s holiest moments....amidst straw and dirt! I am sure I would find myself easily feeling forgotten by the God I follow. Betrayed. Frustrated. Alone.

I find it easy to imagine that Mary could have been at least tempted to feel abandoned by God that night...in the very moment when Immanuel arrived to earth.

In Mary’s motherly eyes, it must’ve seemed like an ironic oversight that one carrying such a wondrous child as hers would be required by circumstance to give birth in a barn. It must’ve seemed like God Himself had closed His eyes and let life happen for a short while without His careful observance. 

But there was a lot she couldn’t see. 

God’s eyes were open. Heaven was open. Immanuel was soon to be loved and known as God, With Us. God was fulfilling a Plan bigger than the new mother could hope to dream. He saw in her baby The Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the whole world. And He wanted the Lamb to be born in a place for animals. A place for the poor, the ones who were last, the ones who couldn’t find a place and were pretty much homeless. Almighty God was sending His Lamb precisely to those kinds of people. He wanted His entrance into the world to be a symbol of the life He would live and the kind of people He would welcome into His Kingdom. He wanted His Lamb to be born in a place where, symbolically, it would be shepherds who would be the first to seek and find Him; a place where those who care for sheep could be the first to adore the newly born Lamb of God. 

I am sure Mary had no idea, as she yielded herself to birthing her precious child in the dirt and discomfort of a stable, that this was all in the Plan. 

But how she must’ve rejoiced to receive her child into her arms! And what feelings of awe must’ve rushed through her when a group of rough, night-air-scented shepherds made their way into the barn to welcome the King of Glory to Bethlehem!

I too face many moments in life where things don’t seem fair. It’s too easy to wonder, “Father God, do You care? I should be believing, but I need reassured - are You there?” It’s easy to feel that if He truly were there, circumstances would be better. If His promises were coming true, surely it wouldn’t look like this. 

But if only we could be given the eyes to see, even for a minute or two, the way that all things are working out for good and the way we are part of a glorious story of redemption and meaning that spans history! If we could see all there was to see, we would surely know that we are adequately cared for. In fact, we might not even mind if we weren’t. In light of the glorious meaning that the Lamb gives to us and our story, we might not need it to be easy. We might not need it to all make sense in the moment. We might not need it to be comfortable. If only our small lives may fulfill their part in the glorious Story, we will not regret yielding to birthing in a barn...or whatever may be in The Plan for us.