There are times when life stinks, and I am not so sure that it smells good more than it stinks. My family and I are pretty devastated by the stench right now. We just lost a sweet innocent child to illness in our family, so the stench is very fresh and very real for us. I am not as much concerned about the tears in my eyes or the deep heaviness that I feel in my heart as I am concerned about her mom, dad who melt your heart with their kind demeanors when you meet them.
I was also helping a kid this week who just gave up on a project that I was helping him with. I didn’t understand why he gave up until one of my helpers informed me of what he was dealing with. My heart went out to him when I heard about his plight. And the thing is, that he still had a smile on his face.
Anyway, life surely smelled pretty bad when Mary and Joseph had to make that long trip to Bethelehem on a donkey, with her almost ready to give birth. That could not have been comfortable, and then they had to get to Bethlehem and be turned down for lodging. She had to deliver her baby in a stable.
Okay, so here’s the thing I get from all of this, in other words, “here’s the God-connection that I take away from this:”
“Other than our fallen natures that originally caused life to stink, perhaps one of the the other reasons God, in His wise providence, allows life to smell is so that we can be as helpful, which means, ‘full of help’ to each other throughout our lives and especially through the rough times when life really, really stinks.”
Another thing that I take away from this is that there is still a lot of joy in this life. All you have to do to know that is connect with somebody, almost anybody: connect with them eye-to-eye, ear-to-ear and nose-to-nose and watch the wonder of God in that person come to the surface. It is a joy. Watching that young man that I talked about earlier, watching him smile through his pain was more than a joy. It was a wonder.
I also take away from it the fact that I am still trusting God through it all. I have been preparing a sermon all week, asking the question, “Is Christmas Special”? I have been researching all the other stories of miraculous births because their are other claims by other religions of miraculous births, and stories of other floods from other religions and I have concluded that Christmas is special.
Despite what you and I are dealing with keep trusting God. Be as helpful as you can to somebody, bringing as much joy and wonder into their lives as you can, and try to have a Merry Christmas.
Life Step Ministries 