Mangers and the Hard Stuff

It wasn’t wooden.

In fact, it may not even have been covered.

It was certainly crowded.

It most likely wasn’t winter, and most likely was sweltering.

…on the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Mangers in Israel during the first century weren't wooden.  They were stone – like this one…

Manger on the ruins of Mount Megiddo (AKA "Tel Megiddo")
May 2012

Chances are, Jesus was laid in a pile of hay (or feed of some sort).  Depending on where the manger was, it may not have even been covered, or maybe only covered with a small tent sheet.  Given that the shepherds were in their fields, it was probably late summer to early fall that Jesus was born, not the dead of winter. 

There are so many unknowns about the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus that could be debated over and over, but let me share with you my point: it wasn't wooden.  Jesus wasn't born into a cozy little warm stable on a cold winter’s night and laid in a soft wooden manger.  He came into a hot, sweaty, crowded town full of people registering for a census.  He was born to two tired parents who had just been rejected by society because of the possible “scandal” surrounding Mary’s pregnancy.  He was laid in a hard, stone manger to be displayed before visitors.  The manger never became “un-hard”, but the purpose of that manger was never greater than when Jesus was laid in it.

God took the Delight of eternity and stuck Him smack-dab in the middle of our crazy world in a hard stone manger.  He did it then, and has not changed His technique for all these years.  He comes smack-dab in the middle of our crazy, hectic lives and lays out His love on all the hard things with which we deal.  

Joseph and Mary dealt with a hard manger, a hard journey, a hard society.  We deal with hard questions, hard realities, and hard decisions every day. 

I deal with hard stuff every day.  But God has chosen to come right in the middle of those hard things and lay His Love out for me. 

...for you.

Jesus wasn't just a gift for Christmas.  He was a gift for every hard moment in our lives.  We choose to let Him stay in our mangers of the hard things.  What manger of your life can you lay Jesus in today?  The hard things won’t change, but they will finally have a purpose when we let God use them to show His love to a watching world.  

A watching world of 

kings… 

nobles… 

shepherds… 

innkeepers… 

presidents… 

children...

politicians… 

auto-body repair shop workers… 

hotel managers…

bosses...

the local deli owner...

parents...

neighbors...