Day 5: Afflicted

…and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7b

The scene portrayed in so many nativity re-enactments of the inhospitable inn keepers and ‘No Vacancy’ placards likely rings untrue to the actual context of the pilgrimage to Bethlehem. Yet, the fact remains, at the end of their long 90 mile journey, in the fullness of pregnancy, there is no decent room for them to be housed in. Welcome or not at their Bethlehem arrival, they are sleeping with the livestock. The details of how they got there are rather secondary. 

God the Father did not part a sea, make water from a rock, transport the blessed family in a chariot of fire, or manifest manna that the delivery of His one and only Son be in any wise comfortable. Needs went unmet, hunger, thirst and exhaustion coursed through their bodies, and solace avoided them. Every single facet of the whole ordeal was difficult. Yet it was no less blessed, ordained, or overseen by the mighty hand of the Father. 

Sometimes the Father leads us down His chosen and providential paths which are nevertheless overgrown by thorny bramble or blockaded by fallen timber. Our place is not to question the ways and means of His many graces, but to receive them such as they are and take the next reasoned step of obedience. Sometimes it may mean ankles bloodied by brambles, a day of diligence with an ax, or a fortnight lodged with the livestock. 

Don’t lose heart dear beloved. The mission of God is fraught with peril and perplexities. He most often brings us through rather than over, and in spite of rather than because of. He even allows His saints to perish on the journey frequently enough. Take none of these as ‘signs’ that He is either more or less with you or against you. The Spirit dwells in you by the power of the Son’s righteousness. Neither your work nor your worthiness are sustained in yourself. This should be cause for great liberation of mind and soul. The labors and trials at hand, whether contrived from friend or foe, are redeemed in the hands of our Father. There is no checkmate moved against our days or our souls which the Almighty does not maneuver to His purposes. In this may we find a rest, even in the midst of our afflictions.

Application Questions

-What obstacles or afflictions have you met along your path?

-How has God given grace in the midst of those difficulties thus far?

-As you consider the afflictions or difficulties in your life, what would be the next reasonable step of obedience as you deal with each one?