2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
Isaiah 12:2-6
I am thinking of Mary and Joseph making the journey to Bethlehem. How uncomfortable she must have been. Ask any woman who travels at the end on her pregnancy how she would like to ride for miles over hilly country on the back of a donkey!
But that is just what Mary was experiencing.
As a young woman about to deliver her first child I am sure she would have preferred to be in familiar surroundings with her own mother there to help her at this time in her life. But it was not to be.
Joseph was the only one available. How helpless he must have felt! Men in that time did not attend the birth. They left that to the women.
Mary and Joseph – in unusual circumstances – trusting God to work things out.
Common sense would say that God did not do a very good job planning this big event. This couple having to travel at the end of a pregnancy and no room available, only a stable. No family or friends for support. What was God thinking!
Even when things don’t make sense to us we can trust that God knows what He is doing.
Joseph and Mary knew this was God’s plan. He brought the shepherds to celebrate the birth with them. I imagine them sitting there in the straw listening to the shepherds tell of the heavenly chorus announcing the birth, eyes wide at the wonder of it all.
The shepherds visit reminded Joseph and Mary that God had not forgotten them. He was there with them in that stable.
And God is with us, always.
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