December 27, 2015 Volume 1, Issue 010
HE MAKES ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL …
And she brought forth her firstborn Son … and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. – Luk 2:7
Though God makes all things beautiful …, He does not birth all things in the perfect beauty expected ….
Christmas brings hope to a dying world. Christ’s coming as the Father’s answer to the troubled world is still joy to the world. His arrival, heralded by the appearance of the angels to the shepherd who were watching their flock by night, was good tiding to all; of glory to God in the heavens; of peace on earth; and of good will to men.
The immediate account of His birth rounded up in Luk 2:7 with “… because there was no room for them in the inn.” The birth was not in a beautiful setting as we are wont to expect. God who makes all things beautiful in its time begins the beauty with a birth in simplicity. This is a lesson in the importance of appreciating the days of little beginnings. Often we do not recognise the things that are not essential to the fulfilment of God’s will in our lives. A baby was to be born and the setting of the birth was not as important as the birth itself. Note that the mention of the setting was the last in the details of His birth.
Despite the setting of His birth, He came to make lives beautiful by restoring men back to the original plan of God. Israel ignored Him simply because the King did not appear in glory, confused by the two sidedness of the prophecies about Him. But to those who received Him power was given to make them sons of God. The effect of that little beginning is still ongoing on earth. Amidst oppositions and violent resistance to the peaceful propagation of the good tidings, the message about the King, as a gracious gift to the world continues to thrive across the nations, tribes and climes.
The value of the Christmas story is an encouragement to all in that:
- You do not have to know everything about your life’s purpose. The things revealed to you are yours for your obedience to God. The ones kept by God are for His sovereign operations. An angel did not have to tell Joseph and Mary to go down to Bethlehem from Nazareth as the Almighty who rules in the affairs of men will influence a political decision at that time to get them back to their nativity for the birth of Christ to be according to the necessary plan (the prophecy).
- Your life’s purpose is supra-locational. Though God specifies location in His plan, it doesn’t have to be the best of all locations. The King did not have to be born in Jerusalem or in Rome to rule the world in the long run; the great King would be born in the smallest town in Judea to rule all the people. The plan is greater than the place.
- Your life’s purpose is more than the beauty of your birth setting or of its initial setting. Most of those who have influenced in most fields, the world over, were neither born in the palace nor with the silver spoon. Though God makes all things beautiful in its time, He does not birth all things in the perfect beauty expected by men. Mary did not have to travel out to the most notable of places or hospices for the birth of the baby; the child that was born King did not have His Kingship signified with a crown on his head at birth. He was a typical baby, noticeable by those in Bethlehem by the unusual peasantness of his birth setting. The significant thing at the time of the birth was even secret; an angel announced the birth not in the royal palace in Jerusalem, but in the field to mere shepherds. The birth is only the beginning of the beauty to be manifested.
As we celebrate this season of His Advent, be encouraged that all things will work together; not necessarily for immediate gratification but for the ultimate good and the glory of God. His counsel for your life shall stand if you cooperate with His good plan of allowing Christ into your life, in spite of the immediate setting that is unsatisfying. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will perfect His plan in your life.
Merry Christmas to you.