Signs Must Be Seen
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
The circumstances of the birth of our Savior were not ideal in any way. He was not born in an inn, or a hospital or any place remotely proper (or sterile) to give birth. Mary’s perfect timing came at an imperfect time according to our way of thinking. Perhaps, in a couple of more days, Joseph could have procured a place for them. Why couldn’t God hold off her time for a few days? Verse 12 of that same chapter answers those questions:
“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
An angel came to some shepherds in the field and announced the birth of the World’s Savior, Christ the Lord. He told them where to find this child: “lying in a manger.” This was the sign that the child they would see would indeed be the one told to them from the angel. There could have been many babies in the Inn. There could have been many babies in a private home (if one had been opened to them). However, God made sure that His son would not be mistaken for any other child. There was only one baby born in a stable that night lying in a manger.
Mary had to give birth in an inconvenient, less than ideal place at what seemed to be the wrong time, in order for the “sign” to be unmistakable. The birth stood out. The baby stood out. Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger to be a sign: “
“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”
Signs are meant to be seen! They are meant to stand out so that they cannot be mistaken for anything else. Are you in an inconvenient place in your life right now? Are you looking for an Inn, but all that is available to you is a stable with a feeding trough (manger)? Perhaps Abba means you to be a sign as well!
In times like these, when all doors are closed but the one we don’t want to walk through, I want to encourage you to make do with the stable and the manger. Remember that God’s timing is perfect, and the situation you are in is Him setting you up to be a sign to your family, your co-workers, your community and perhaps even the nation or the world!
“Wait a minute there sister,” you might be saying. “I am a lioness! I live in the light and hunt in the dark! I am fearfully and wonderfully made! I rule whole territories! My roar, combined with that of my sisters, can be heard for five miles and strike fear into the heart of everyone who hears! I am the queen of the jungle and my King is without equal! You are not going to find me in a stable or my seed in a manger.”
My word to you is not to let pride stand in your way! Mary was given the honor of being the mother of God, yet that honor included having to give birth in a stable with only her husband to attend to her. A husband, I might add, who never “knew” her. They had never been intimate, yet she had to let him attend her in this very intimate act. Not an ideal situation! Joseph, a man given the honor of raising the Son of God into manhood, had to humble himself and bring his pregnant wife into a stable to give birth. Not an ideal situation. Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was born in a stable. Not an ideal situation!
Lioness Lesson: Being born in a stable did not negate the Kingship of Jesus. Giving birth in a stable did not take away Mary’s honor. Being a sign is an honor! What an honor for Father God to look on you and say these things about you: “My daughter will be a sign!”
“She is strong enough for the stable and the manger!
She loves me enough to submit herself to less than ideal situations!
Look how magnificent she is in her humility!”
Be a sign lionesses!