“…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:7)
I have always pictured, and planned out my future, I live by plans and planning is what I do. Yet, as we all know, our lives can take unexpected turns that leave us feeling flatlined and unfulfilled. We start to lose hope when we realize there are some things that are just OUT of our control. Yet, that is where believing comes in.
As I look at the advent season, I realized it is a season about waiting expectantly. What are we called to wait expectantly for? Christ’s coming, and the fulfillment of his promises to us. Yet, what if we have been looking at our lives with preconceived ideas of what it is supposed to look like. Don’t limit God, but wait expectantly for God to answer your prayers in the most unexpected way. What do I mean?
No one expected a King to come as a baby in a manger. No one expected that an Angel would appear to some lowly shepherds first. You see, God would fulfill his promises to us through a carpenter, and an unmarried mother. The whole story is odd, I’m sure anyone LOOKING for the fulfillment of the promise of a KING, would not believe that it would be through a lowly baby boy.
The willingness of the characters to follow God into the unknown, through a crazy maze of adventures astounds me every time. Where they afraid? I’m sure they were. Did they follow God anyways? Yes they did.
Everything happened in the most unlikely way. Don’t short God by expectantly waiting, in anticipation, with it all planned out the way you think it should go. Don’t override the author or your story with how you, “think it should look.” Let him lead you.
Don’t limit a limitless God. Don’t squash the creativity of the master artist. Instead, watch and wait for God to fulfill his promises to you in ways that you never imagined.
![Has a post on social media ever made you immediately frustrated? Maybe you even started to think ill of the author of the post. You feel your chest tighten and wonder, how could they have said that? You are so mad you want to click the unfollow button.
[save for reference for when you’re offended]
An offense can happen when someone sins against us, or even if someone just rubs us the wrong way! Often, it comes out of a “right versus wrong” mentality. We get offended and harbor bitterness. Wounds and resentment create rifts and divisions and we find ourselves clutching our anger tightly in our fists to prove we are right.
It’s okay to feel upset when you are offended or sad, but we can’t let bitterness take root. Instead, we must be quick to forgive. As believers, holding a grudge inhibits our ability to reconcile. And when we avoid reconciliation, we miss out on what God wants to do in and through us.
Typically for me, offense stems from pride or self-righteousness. I have received some pretty offensive comments over time, and my feelings do get hurt. But as Christians, we need to be able to “overlook an offense” just like it says in Proverbs.
This passage says it is “one’s glory to overlook an offense.” #chasingsacred (read the rest of the article on @hosannarevival)](https://www.chasingsacred.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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