Bethlehem Days

When God chooses to favor you, your life will look very different from what you expect. You may hope for extra blessings, long life, special privileges, or even prosperity. But my experience has been that those whom God favors suffer more. We could cite the Biblical examples of Joseph going from the favored son of Jacob to the cold walls of an Egyptian dungeon, or Moses going from the plush household of Pharaoh to the barren desert of Sanai, or Daniel going from the privileges of the king’s palace to the darkness of a lions’ den, or the apostle Paul going from the high status of Jewish society to the lonely confinement of a Roman jail.

Could it be that the result of your present suffering is not because God is absent, but because it’s part of His plan for you? Since it’s Christmas time, let’s look at another Biblical character whose life changed dramatically because she was favored by God. “The angel said to Mary, “Don’t be afraid for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High… His Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1: 30-33)

What did God’s favor do for Mary? She became pregnant before she was officially married. Other than Joseph, the angel Gabriel didn’t bother to tell anyone else that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Imagine the mockery, shame, and rejection Mary received when she tried explaining to her family and friends, “But God caused this!” The punishment for pregnancy out of wedlock was death by stoning. Joseph probably took Mary on the 80-mile arduous journey to Bethlehem for her protection.

Well, surely if this was ‘the Son of the Most High’, then His birth would be glorious. Instead, Mary, while at the end of her pregnancy, had to ride several days on a donkey along rocky terrain. Because there was no room at the Inn, Mary had to give birth in a dark and smelly animal cave, no diapers, no midwife, no hot water. Don’t you think there were many times along the journey and in the cave when Mary wondered, “Is this child really God’s Son? Maybe the angel vision was just a dream?” Mary and Joseph didn’t know that future generations would celebrate their humble story with songs and manger scenes. At the time, they didn’t have a clue what was happening. When we are under God’s favor, life can sometimes go from bad to worse. What we don’t see is that God is carefully giving birth to His eternal purposes for you that require a steadfast faith to see.

But then Mary and Joseph receive word that Herod wants to kill their newborn baby. Imagine the dread Mary feels on the road to Egypt when she hears that every baby in Bethlehem has been slaughtered because of her child. She must now raise her child in a foreign land. Eventually, after returning to her homeplace, Joseph dies, and Mary is left alone to raise her family. Being favored by God often looks like others are being blessed instead of you.

Now, imagine the heaviness of Mary’s heart when she’s crying at the foot of the cross where her lacerated Son hangs nailed, bleeding to death, mocked by soldiers, and abandoned by friends. Maybe she questions, “Didn’t the angel promise me that ‘His Kingdom will never end?’” Being favored by God often involves hurt, confusion, doubts, and lots of grief. But these dark times could be evidence that you are actually in the middle of God’s will. It wasn’t until days, weeks, and months later that Mary began to see God’s plan with clarity and amazement.

When God takes control of your life, you will have your Bethlehem days when nothing makes sense, when God seems absent, and when despair threatens to take over. How could you possibly be favored by God? This is when you need the eyes of faith to see that you were born-again into a spiritual kingdom that looks very strange to the people of this world. As you learn to “walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), to “count it all joy when you encounter various trials” (James 1: 2), “knowing it is God who is at work in you to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” (Phil. 2:13), then you can rest with certainty that God will one day bring glory out of your Bethlehem days.