By Gina Caswell Kelly
The lesson I am teaching in Sunday school this week is about the Wise Men and the baby Jesus. Interesting study for the middle of March, but nevertheless! I always listen to sermons and other studies when I am preparing to teach. Yesterday, a sermon I listened to which I listened was about the stable.
The stable where Jesus was born was a dirty and smelly place that no one would have ever picked for the birth of the King! It was uncomfortable and likely very noisy. Absolutely not ideal! But, the point of the message I heard was that the Wise Men went to the stable looking for God. Now, before you send me messages, I understand that when the Wise Men actually came, it was not to the stable location. However, you know that in all our nativity depictions, the Wise Men are included right along with the shepherds.
This preacher went on to talk about our own lives. Are we looking for God in the stables in our own lives? The stable of illness or death of a loved one. The stable of loss of job or financial worries. When you standing in the midst of one of these messy, smelly stables, are you looking for God as you stand there?
None of us enjoy these times of struggle and complications. None of us relish the idea of going through illness or financial worries. But the thing is, is that God is always in the midst of the struggle right along with us. He. Always. Is. That is a given. We do not have to ask Him to join us. He is there. We just have to learn to look for Him.
As I have gone through struggles in my life, I always knew God was there. He just was and is. I have never understood how people without faith in God can go through the things life throws our way. You can look back in God’s Word and see God in the prison with Paul and Peter and all the others. You can see God certainly standing with Job in his struggles. You can see God with David as he was on the run for his life. Those are not just Bible stories and special people. They were all people just like us! And God stood with them. Just like He stands with us.
So, as you are going through your “stable” experiences in life, never forget to recognize that God is standing with you. Nothing that ever happens in your life is a surprise to God. He knew each day was coming, and He is there with a plan and a will for your life.
Always look to God. Even when it is the hardest. Maybe especially when it is the hardest. It will make a difference!