TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT
I love you too much to leave you the way you are. I have so much more for you, but the only way to get it is to conform to the image of My plan. While this can be painful and challenging, the results will be worth it.
MESSIAH IN THE MESS
To say that Jesus shows up in a mess is an understatement. Not only did He show up at a time when Israel was ruled by an Edomite by the name of Herod, He makes His entrance in the middle of an epic scandal.
Because she’s obedient to her identity and purpose, Mary has to tell Joseph she’s pregnant, but it’s a God thing. And Joseph thinks that’s whack. Can any man imagine being engaged to somebody that shows up pregnant, says she didn’t cheat on you, but it’s a God-thing? Would that fly?
No, it wouldn’t and it didn’t fly with Joseph. What we like to call “the greatest story ever told” has a whole lot of messes in it. The very first mess is that Mary is pregnant. Although Joseph gets on board after an angel backs Mary’s story, the entire thing is filled with shame and scandal.
Miraculously pregnant through supernatural circumstances and in very real danger, Mary’s family sends her off to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth is an old woman miraculously pregnant through natural circumstances.
So, they’re both miraculously pregnant and that’s another part of the Christmas story: sometimes it’s just as miraculous when God moves through natural things as when He moves supernaturally. Although one can be explained the other one can’t – both are supernatural.
And both of these miracles showed up in a messy time, in a messy place, when the nation was under godless, foreign rule. The rich should have been poor, and the poor should have been royalty. Having a child at Elizabeth’s age was scandalous, and being pregnant before the wedding was beyond scandal – shunning was a certainty and stoning was a possibility.
Just know this: God was in it the whole time and called it awesome. You see, you don’t get blessed without a mess. We grow, change, and find our destiny by going through the fire. We earn favor through difficulty. Whether Jesus shows up to you in a natural miracle, or a supernatural one, isn’t the point. The point is, He’ll show up.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14
FROM MY SERMON SERIES INDESCRIBABLE