No Accident!

This morning I was reading from the book of Luke with my son, as he was working on his Bible curriculum. When we got to Luke 2: 3 – 4, we read: And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

I paused there to explain that the name “Bethlehem” means “house of bread” in Hebrew. Because we’re homeschoolers, we love rabbit-trails, so from there I showed Samuel the connection to John 6: 35, where Jesus called Himself “the Bread of Life” – the Bread was born in the “house of bread”!!

And that got me thinking: did that happen by accident?

Let’s rewind a little further back in history … the valley to the east of Bethlehem is where the fertile fields were where Ruth gleaned behind Boaz’s farmhands – so fertile in fact, that the local village, established 1400 years before Joseph and Mary travelled there, was named “Bread Town”. And 250 years after Boaz married Ruth, another famous baby, David, was also born in the House of Bread. Years later, when David was king of Israel, Nathan prophesied that God would establish his throne forever, as One from his family would rule His Kingdom forever 2 Samuel 7: 12 - 13. And so, in the fullness of time, that Baby, the Son of David, was born in Bethlehem, David’s City (Matthew 22: 42 – 46).

Are you, like me, breathless at the magnitude and detail of God’s plan for our redemption??!! Nothing happened by accident, nothing was added in at the last minute – no, His plan was perfectly designed and perfectly executed.

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says to His people, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You’ve probably heard that verse many times before, but today, I want to ask you to re-read it in light of the picture I just painted for you of Bethlehem’s place in history – hear this verse as the Lord’s call to us individually and corporately to trust His foreknowledge and His goodness. He is “the author and FINISHER of our faith” (Hebrews 12: 2) … He has the story of your life written out, and He holds it securely in the palm of His hand, and it’s a GOOD story, even if the page you’re on now is one you’d rather not be reading, even if there are whole chapters of your life that don’t seem to make sense right now … There is no detail of your life that the Father has overlooked, and nothing that He isn’t using for His glory and your good. He’s got this! He’s got you! Today I pray that God will open your eyes to see the incredible extent He went to in order to save you, and redeem your life … and having our eyes open wide, that we will see that fear and anxiety have no place and no power in our lives!

#lifelessons #Jeremiah29 #plans