HEAL - God's Heart for Healing in LukeSample

70 Miles On A Donkey

Everyone is familiar with the story of the birth of Jesus in this chapter. Familiarity, sometimes, can cause us to gloss over certain details in a story; details which may be very helpful to us during our healing journey. There are many of those in this account, but let’s focus on one: Mary, a very young Jewish woman who was engaged to be married, conceived through the Holy Spirt of God, and is carrying in her womb the Son of God! Joseph is a righteous, Jewish man, who has lived his whole life following God’s laws and is supporting his espoused wife and undoubtedly, and constantly, defending Mary and her reputation to the community over the last several months. And, in general, all aspects of daily life are hard for the Jewish people while under Roman rule. Wasn’t that enough to deal with? No, it wasn’t. Now we learn that Mary and Joseph are being required by the Roman government to travel over 70 miles to Joseph’s hometown just to be counted! The census was declared by Caesar Augustus while he sat in his palace, all high and mighty, no doubt taking advantage of every comfort available to mankind at the time. To top it off, their only means of transportation is one little D O N K E Y! Great fun, especially for a woman who is nearing time to give birth. But that’s what was required of Mary and Joseph, the highly favored and chosen couple, the earthly parents of Jesus.  

Notice that although certainly capable, God did not float them over to Bethlehem on the back of Gabriel’s wings; not even a nice bedded carriage pulled by a strong team of camels. Nothing, nada! Who could blame them if there were times in which the couple questioned the goodness of God, His plan for their lives, and whether He even loved them at all? Well, He is good, He did have great plans for them and He loved them more than we can comprehend, but He did NOT spare them from suffering. He may not spare us from suffering either. However, suffering never means that He is not good, that He has forgotten His plans for us, or that He doesn’t love us. We simply have to trust Him, trust Him, and then trust Him some more.

QUESTIONS:

1. Are there times when my suffering causes me to doubt His love?
2. Do I have the courage to admit the doubt and then press into Him and His Word for encouragement?
3. Do I believe good can eventually come from my suffering?