The Could Haves
Oh, how I pray this season is giving you new glimpses of who God is and how much He loves you.
This year I am using an Advent Devotional by John Piper called Good New and Great Joy. As I read that is just what I am getting, great joy! I must share what Piper writes on Day 5.
"You would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, he surely could have seen to it that a room was available in the inn.
Yes, he could have. He absolutely could have. And Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family. He could have turned some stone into bread in the wilderness. He could have called ten thousand angels to his aid in Gethsemane. He could have come down from the cross and saved himself. The question is not what God could do, but what he willed to do.
God's will was that though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. The 'No Vacancy' signs over all the motels in Bethlehem were for your sake. 'For your sake he became poor' (2 Corinthians 8:)
God rules all things-even hotel capacities and available Airbnbs-for the sake of his children. The Calvary road began with a 'No Vacancy' sign in Bethlehem and ends with the spitting and scoffing of the cross in Jerusalem...Yes, God could have seen to it that Jesus have a room at his birth. But that would have been a detour off the Calvary Road."
How many times do we say, "God why did you do that or why didn't you do that?" God can do all things, but what He is in the process of doing is making us more like Christ and he knows exactly what that will take.
The Song "All the World Awaits" by Chris Tomlin
