See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Today, I am struck by this lyrical phrase: “Mary, Joseph, lend your aid.” I am struck by how astounding it is that God relied on a couple of frail, fragile human beings to keep the Savior of the world safe. I mean, what if Joseph had dismissed the directive dreams he received from God as unimportant? What if he had blamed them on the pizza he had for dinner? What if he hadn’t taken Mary as his wife? What if he had put her away instead, as he had planned to do? Or what if he hadn’t gotten little Jesus up in the middle of the night and fled to Egypt? What if he and Mary had made one wrong move? What if bloodthirsty Herod had gotten his hands on the holy Child because of their negligence?
Here’s the bottom line. The “what if’s” are irrelevant. You and I can see God’s immaculate sovereign agency in every detail of this treasured story. The Father is always going to have His way in human history, no matter how many fallible human players are involved.
You know, the same is true for your life today. No matter how many flawed, error-prone individuals are woven into the fabric of your life story, God is going to fulfill His purposes for you. You can trust Him deeply to do exactly that.
Jesus came to model this kind of deep heart trust posture for us. Coming into our world, He made Himself utterly vulnerable, taking on the form of a helpless infant. He became entirely dependent on Daddy God’s protection for His very survival. Even as adults, you and I are utterly vulnerable too. Just like Baby Jesus, we are completely dependent on our Father’s sovereign agency in our lives.
Daddy God had to get the tiny Savior safely through the very real, life-threatening dangers coming against Him. He planned out, oversaw, and executed His plan for this without an ounce of tension or worry. Calmly, peacefully, with unspeakable confidence, He orchestrated the events we read about in Matthew and Luke’s Christmas narratives.
Just as He did for His tiny Son, He will do for us. Our lives are in His enormous, capable hands. No one can stop Him from fulfilling His precious and eternally enduring purposes for us, the ones that He loves.
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Does imagining Jesus as a tiny, fragile human utterly incapable of defending or caring for Himself bring comfort to you in your own need for Daddy’s protection, nurturing, and intervention?
Feeding On Jesus 
Thank you AGAIN, this is exactly the message I needed this morning!
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Aw, and again, I am SO truly blessed that it helped provide what you needed! Hope your Christmas was extra special 🙂
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Great thought provoking message. My heart rejoices to remember the simple very normal life our Saviour lived on this earth. Hope for all the ordinary in human kind.
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Yes! Thank You Jesus for showing us that the ordinary can be so beautiful if You are at the center of it all!
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Love this….”The “what if’s” are irrelevant. You and I can see God’s immaculate sovereign agency in every detail of this treasured story. The Father is always going to have His way in human history, no matter how many fallible human players are involved.”
Praise Him! He is Sovereign! May His will ALWAYS be done in me!
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Thank you, my dear sister! Amen and AMEN to that prayer!!
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Great, reassuring post. Thanks.
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You are most welcome, CG! Hope your Christmas was wonderful 🙂
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Oh yes it does Jenn! When I stop to think of the humanity of our Lord, the fact that He felt and experienced things just like we do, brings me such comfort. Added to this that he was fully God all at that same time is awe-inspiring. Only a perfect God could carry out a plan as audacious as this one: a helpless infant is the Savior of the world!
Betsy and I pray the fullness of His blessings on you and your family in these days,
Chuck
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Meeeee toooo, Chuck! Truly, the comfort this brings is immensely profound. And thank you! I hope your Christmas was extra special. I actually saved the FB picture you shared about your kids understanding you, to my phone, because I pray for your family, and was so glad for the visual 🙂
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We deeply appreciate the prayers Jenn, thank you!!
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That is mutual! I know you all are doing the same for us. It’s AMAZING how the Lord sets up His body for mutual blessing and encouragement!
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We were just discussing that with our Sunday evening group in considering the deposit of Holy Spirit in every believers heart!
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Ha, imagine that! 😁 Holy Spirit does it again! Happy New Year, my dear brother!
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In other words, so glad for a face to one of the names I have been praying for! 🙏🙏
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I am one of the fallible human players who rejoices in these truths. What an irony that we at the same time have the Spirit within and still have feet of clay. Thank you for the post. Merry Christmas!
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Yes! I am forever grateful that He puts His treasure into these jars of clay! I hope your Christmas was truly blessed too, Jon 🙂
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You are such a blessing, Jenn. Up in the middle of the night and came across this gem! This definitely reassured me that God’s purposes for my life will be fulfilled regardless of my “humanness” as I seek Him and rely on Him.
Kenny and I were imagining last night what life might have been like to be raising Jesus. Just a side note/ question— do you think Jesus did private miracles within his family leading up to the wedding at Cana? Kenny pointed out that Mary must have experienced similar situations since she confidently told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. I brought up that I had read recently that two of his brothers became believers later in life (James being one). Just wondering about / imagining life with Jesus as boy/ young man!
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Hm, I tend to think that He didn’t do any miracles before that, since the Holy Spirit came on Him at His baptism. My understanding is that He, just like we do, had to rely completely on the power of the Holy Spirit to move in the supernatural. My reading of the narrative gives me the impression that He received that impartation at His baptism, and started moving in it after that. Maybe Mary just got a “knowing” from the Holy Spirit too. I have always wondered myself how she was so confident! Then again, she knew from before she got pregnant, from Gabriel, that He was to be the Son of the Most High, the prophesied Messiah to occupy David’s throne. I’m thinking she’d long been on the lookout for when He would start to move in this office!
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