God is able. Do you believe that?
Do you have some prayer requests and burdens today that make you wonder if in fact God is able?
Is it hard for you to grasp that God is able? What are your burdens today? What is on your heart?
If you could ask God anything today, what would it be?
Do you believe God is able to answer your prayer?
The Prediction
The Christmas story proves God is able. Let me explain why. Six hundred years prior to Jesus’ birth, Micah predicted the following:
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”(Micah 5:2)
The prediction? That Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
The Problem
As you probably know, Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. Depending on how you measure it (which direction/road), Nazareth is 80-90 miles away from Bethlehem. This is a problem.
Angels announce to Mary and Joseph that she was pregnant miraculously by the Holy Spirit and would bear a Son – Jesus, the Messiah.
I don’t know if Joseph knew the prediction from Micah. For sure we know he and she were both in somewhat of a shock. In the excitement of the pregnancy, did it ever cross their mind that they lived in the wrong place to have the Messiah?
God IS Able!
Enter Caesar Augustus.
He determined that he wanted all in the Roman empire to register to pay taxes (Luke 2:1-7).
Why is that important? Because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David which meant he had to travel from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, five miles south of Jerusalem.
The rest is history.
Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to obey the non-God-fearing, non-believing Caesar’s demand. I wonder if Joseph complained about taxes like we do? Regardless if he did or not, obeying Caesar put Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem at the end of her pregnancy.
Imagine what it was like when she told Joseph, “I’m having contractions. We’re going to have a baby!”
Away from home. In Bethlehem. No room in the inn.
But right where God predicted over 600 years earlier. The Messiah’s birth fulfilled prophecy perfectly.
God IS able. And He still is!
Image Credit Gareth Harper
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together
