My daughter-in-law had to cut short a mountain climb when her hiking companion, a trained birth coach, got a text that one of her pregnant mothers had gone into labor. Her friend bemoaned the fact that births never happen when she is sitting at home; they seem to wait for the most inconvenient time.


Have you considered the “inconvenient” timing of Jesus’ birth? Certainly, the God of the Universe could have planned differently! Couldn’t He have waited until the census was over so Mary could give birth in the comfort of familiar surroundings with family nearby? Or if Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, couldn’t they just travel there off-season and get a better place to stay? In that teeming town, only a few local shepherds witnessed His birth. And a stable – really?


Though we can’t know how or why God chose this exact time and place for Jesus to be born, He did so in His perfect providence. Through it we’re adopted as His sons and daughters, His “convenience” sacrificed for our redemption!