Friday, December 2, 2011

God's Census

“1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.” – Luke 2:1-3
Back to the Christmas theme today! Sorry it’s taken so long to get back on track.
This little passage means to world to me! In Micah it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and this verse in Luke tells us how God accomplished that. Much of the time I don’t understand how God is doing something. I know I’ve said this a lot lately, but God is really revealing His infinite power to me in this area.
I’ll be honest, I don’t like it when I know that God is going to accomplish something, but I don’t understand how. I’m sure Mary had some of the same questions running through her mind. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, not Bethlehem…so how was this prophecy going to be fulfilled? I know this question would have worried me to no end if I were her. But, God had that problem all figured out (haha, He knew from the beginning of time how He was going to accomplish this).
Not only does the fact that God had it all planned out amaze me, but how He did it is amazing. Luke tells us he had Caesar Augustus order a census…and then adds that “this was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.” WOW! Not only did God use an ungodly man, a ROMAN, to accomplish His will, but apparently this was a rare thing.
This touched me deeply today, because it let me know god will accomplish His will in ways we can never imagine. I know that His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), but it is incredible to really see how he can use such unlikely circumstances to fulfill his promise!
Lord, thank you for using ordinary circumstances to accomplish Your will! Thank you for being the one who gives all power to the leaders over us (Romans 13:1). Thank you for always accomplishing Your will, and for allowing us to play a part in that. In Your name I pray, Amen.

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