As we are in the Christmas season, the story of Jesus’ birth is something many of us are reflecting on, reading about and of course celebrating. His story is so beautiful.
The king of the universe, coming as a baby. In a stable underneath the night sky, with animals, humble parents looking at him with love and admiration, the bright star, the singing angels, the awed shepherds, the reverence of the wise men.
Everything about this story is beautiful to us. We love seeing nativity sets and the beautiful image of Jesus’s arrival.
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But when you really think about it, why is this beautiful to us?? The God of the universe was born as a baby. He came out covered in blood and gue and placenta. Um, Yuck. That is what he was covered in, instead of the rich royal robes of a prince. That would have been beautiful. Poor Mary did not have her mom or a sister or best friend, coaching her through the pain, telling her its going to be okay. There were no family members anxiously waiting outside to see and hold the new baby. I hate the smell of stinky animals and their poop. Can you imagine being stuck in a small area with that stench? Why is this story and the image of the nativity so beautiful to us, when I really think about it, it sounds kind of dreadful?
It’s beautiful to us, Because we know the outcome. We know what came from that night.
We know that over the next 33 years, that baby grew and became strong and wise. We know that he walked the earth and he healed people, and performed miracles and showed unimaginable love to people around him. We know that he sacrificed his life for us. Died a death only explained by crazy, limitless love. And he victorious conquered death and is still alive today. That WHOLE story is what makes the story of Jesus’ birth so beautiful to us. Sometimes, I look at my story, and all I see is mess. I see mistakes. I see “what if’s” and Why’s? There are some things that seem so unfair to me and I don’t want it to be part of my story. But this Christmas as I continue to reflect on the beauty of Jesus’s birth, I have heard God clearly speaking to me.
Leslie, I am the writer of your story! There is beauty in it. There is beauty in the process, there is beauty in the outcome. And when you later look back you will then see the beauty in the mess and the stink that you see now. So don’t dread the mess! Stop asking why and wanting a different story. This is the story I wrote for you and I am the best story teller there is. Writing stories that you could never even dream up. Trust me. This is what I love to do. I love to create beauty from ashes. You are seeking me and you have given me your heart, so you can trust that I will write your story in a beautiful and incredible way.
This is what I hear him telling me. What do you hear him telling you? Are you seeking him? Are you in his word daily. Do you know him and walk with him every day? If so,then trust him with the things that don’t make sense and don’t seem fair. Trust him with the things that you want so desperately to be different in your life. You are his child and he is creating a beautiful story for you. He has a reason and it is beyond us. If your answer was no to any of those questions, I encourage you to start now! Only God can create beauty from a stinky stable. Only God can help us out of our mess.
There are two different kinds of messes that I see in my life. The first type are messes that I need to walk away from. A mess that is holding me back from the abundant life he wants to give me and keeping me from full joy in him. Girlfriends, walk away from these messes!!!! They may not be bad in themselves, but may have effects in your life that hold off all that God has to offer. It could be a friend that gossips your ear off and her negativity rubs off on you. Walk away! It could be a sport your child is in that keeps you too busy to regularly attend church or a bible study, or causes continuous stress on your child or family. Walk away! You can come up with reasons to stay. Such as you want to be a light to your friend and help her see Jesus. Or your child loves the sport and you want them to learn perseverance through difficulties. If it’s having negative results on your relationship with God, maybe it’s not from God. Maybe you don’t see the negative results. I encourage you to look deeply. Put your relationship with God, and your family’s relationship with God before all else. It might be scary to walk away from something. But I encourage you to trust him. Trust that he will create beauty for you who choose him over something else.
Something that God has put on my heart is to continually evaluate my life to see if there are things I need to get rid of. I’m reminded that this life is so short and really, I am more fulfilled when I am invested in what has eternal value. God calls us to take a magnifying glass not only to him to see him more clearly, but to our lives as well. I encourage you to examine your life. Where you spend your time, what stresses you out. what might be holding you or anyone in your family farther away than the most abundant relationship with Christ you can imagine. Because that’s where he wants us. Closer to him and more in love with him and in line with him than we can even imagine. So, let;s consistently take up our magnifying glass, examine our lives and search for the messes that we need to walk away from.
The second type of mess that I see in my life is in areas that God has entrusted me with and it’s obvious that these things are not to be walked away from. We do not walk away from Biblical commitments such as Marriage, family, responsibilities, contracts. Those are areas of life that WILL get messy. And it’s okay to fall on your knees sometimes and call out to God “Why? What if? It’s not fair.” I have had these moments. And with full trust that God can make things better at a snap of his finger, I question why he doesn’t.
But I see my answer in the story of Jesus. There WILL BE beauty.
There is beauty in the process.
There is beauty in the hearts that are called to him through the process.
And there will be beauty in the outcome.
Seek him, walk with him, know him, and the beauty will come. We can not skip the story that is leading up to great beauty. Trust that God is working through everything. All that’s happening is happening to make miracles. God comes through mangers. The resurrection and fulfilled promises is what makes that manger so extremely beautiful.
The outcome of your messes, your stinky stables- will cause you to look back at the manger, and the process in between and see great incredible beauty in it.
You may not see it now, but have hope that it is there. Keep your eyes on him and watch for him and his gifts. How I desperately want him to snap his fingers and instantly fix the struggles and hard parts of my life. But that’s not what God does most of the time. He definitely has the power to. He didn’t send Jesus to Earth as a grown man that would go directly to the cross to take our sacrifice and then resurrect three days later. He started at the beginning. There was a process. A process of Jesus learning how to walk, being weaned from his mother, learning work from his father, starting a ministry and experiencing persecution and even his own family doubting him. It was a process that was far from the perfect bliss he deserved to be experiencing on his throne in heaven. But God loves the process and he loves to work in it. And that’s how he made this world. So trust, and wait, and walk with him, seek him, call out to him, look for him and the work he is doing. Keep your eyes on him and know that there will be beauty because God is not going to leave us in a stinky stable!
“Joys are always on their way to us. The are always travelling to us through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they are not coming.” -Amy Carmichael.
That is the beauty of the Wise Men in his story. The gifts are always coming. God is preparing them. God is sending them.
“The miracle of gifts...is never not coming. When your Father’s hand isn't readily apparent, it’s only because he's readying gifts. Gifts always come out of the unseen and hidden places.” Ann Voskamp
So, that thing that has you wondering why, wishing God would hurry up and answer your prayers, wondering why he doesn’t... know that he’s there. He is working. He is creating beauty. It will be a beautiful story...someday. The less than ideal beginning, the longer than expected process, the poop, the persecution, it will all beyond beautiful and point to the amazing love of God when he finally shows the full outcome. So keep your hope in him and have confidence that he is there. God is with us. Look for the beauty and the small gifts to help strengthen your hope in the outcome. The shepherds awe, the wise men’s journey, the bright star, they are beauty that God placed in his story. Showing us that he’s there, he’s working. Cling to glimpses of hope and beauty that God shows you as your story unfolds. Walk with him, lean on him and trust him as he works in the process of your life, whether you see him or not. He is there. He is the writer of your story. And one day, it will ALL be beautiful.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
I want to encourage you to take some time today to reflect on the beauty of the the story of Jesus’s birth. You can start by reading Luke 2:1-20. I used to wait until Christmas Eve to read the story and reflect on it. Now I see the importance of not waiting until Christmas Eve or morning to spend time reflecting on the miracle of Christmas. By spending time in the weeks leading up to Christmas focusing on his amazing story Christmas has become so much more meaningful and special to me. I am brought so much closer to the baby in the manger, the God of the universe, the Lord in my heart, the savior of the world. It helps me to truly treasure him as the greatest gift. To not just know it in my head, but to feel it in my heart and soul and be overwhelmed by the greatness of his gift. So I encourage you to spend these next few weeks before Christmas adoring and worshiping the Savior of the world. As you reflect on the beauty of his story, be reminded that there is beauty in your story! The story that he has written for you, the story that points to him.
One Devotional that I am reading during this advent season is on SheReadsTruth.com
Each morning, there is a new scripture reading and devotional posted on the site that focuses on the gift of Jesus. You can find this great devotional here:
Come Let us Adore Him
Lastly, I wanted to share this song with you. “The Night Before Christmas” By Brandon Heath. God’s beautiful story is sung in this song, and moves in our hearts! If you take a few minutes to listen, your heart will be grateful!
Okay, actually one last thing I wanted to share. Here is a playlist of Christmas songs on Spotify. This music does so much for my soul as I prepare my heart for Christmas and take joy in the gift of Jesus!
Luke 2:19b-20a
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen
Like Mary, let's treasure and ponder God's story in our hearts. Like the shepherds, let's hear and see the truth from God. Let's dive into his word. If we do this, if we see him and hear him, praise will flow out of us. And HE WILL be magnified. - He'll be made bigger, greater, and seen more clearly. I pray that each of us will magnify HIM this Christmas season!
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