How many times a day do we feel inconvenienced? Truly, little things like hitting too many red lights, our favorite coffee shop being closed, our route being changed due to construction (Oklahoma problems). How often are we annoyed by things that change our plans or daily routines? This is something I don’t think about often. In fact, I am incredibly prone to having all kinds of feelings when things don’t go the way I thought I needed them to go. I am so guilty of letting a minor inconvenience ruin my whole day, much less a major inconvenience.. that could ruin a whole week!!

If you can’t tell by now, I’m pretty type A. I like to have a plan, I like having rules, I like knowing what to expect, and I especially like when others around me also adhere to the same plan, rules, and expectations. While this personality type can be useful and welcomed in certain scenarios, this doesn’t mix very well with life in general, does it? This tends to make things harder on me than they have to be at times.

I’m working on this and I like to call myself a recovering control freak. However, this week I was reminded again, ever so gently how important it is to go with the flow. To release the ideas in my head of “should be”, “needs to be” and “supposed to be”.

This Sunday I was presented with a study of prophecies fulfilled in the Bible. Most Christians could name several prophecies fulfilled off the top of their heads, but few could point to the time the prophecy was spoken to the time the prophecy was fulfilled. The most obvious fulfillment is Jesus Christ himself. His birth, death and resurrection are a main point in the Bible stories. One thing I never realized is how specific some of the prophecies about Jesus were.

The main prophecy that caught my attention is found in Micah.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Simply put, the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Pretty plain and it doesn’t seem that awe-striking at first.. until we dig deeper.

Micah prophesied from approximately 737 to 696 BC, which means that these words were spoken around 700 years before the birth of Jesus. That alone is pretty crazy, but other prophecies far outweigh this one in terms of time.

I think the most astounding part of this prophecy is that in no way was this simple to fulfill. Have a baby in Bethlehem? Sure, easy enough, but this was not in Mary’s welcome package when she stepped in to the role of virgin mother of the High King. In fact, while stories of prophets were passed down, Mary was Jewish meaning she spent the majority of her time studying the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. So it’s possible she was unaware of this particular prophecy.

Furthermore, it isn’t like she lived in Bethlehem; she was from Nazareth. Joseph was from Bethlehem, just another example of how much intricate detail goes into each and every one of our stories. So, how did the birth of Jesus take place in Bethlehem? It was an inconvenience.

I know. You’re happy to finally know why I think a daily inconvenience such as too many traffic lights relates to the birth of the Messiah. Joseph and Mary were traveling by foot and donkey while Mary was as pregnant as could be because they needed to satisfy an imperial command that all individuals return to their ancestral towns because “all the world should be taxed.”

They were literally in Bethlehem because the government leaders had ordered that all people return to their native towns for tax purposes. Not because they were visited by an angel, not because they heard the voice of God, or not because they had a vision one night. Simply because of what most would consider a huge inconvenience.

Can you imagine Joseph and Mary discussing taking what most scholars believe to be a five-day trip across the land so that Jesus can be born in Joseph’s hometown and registered properly for tax purposes?

I can only imagine how hard of a trip that was. Then, to get to your destination only to find the best place anyone can come up with for you to give birth to a baby in a stable?! Your precious newborn in a manger next to animals!?!

We think it is an endearing picture nowadays, but I cannot imagine how Mary felt in that moment.