{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Inn Keeper ","description":"There was no room in the Inn, so Joseph made a spot for Mary to labor in a cave where the animals were sheltered. It was all the Inn Keeper could offer. Soon, Jesus was born. Maybe that night, Mary found the strength to take her baby outside to look at the sky. \u201cLook buddy\u2026 see the stars?\u201d Woah, she might have thought-looking up- I\u2019ve never noticed THAT one before.  That\u2019s called light, Jesus. See the Light? \u201cJesus\u201d  she may have whispered again, finally putting that special name to a tiny face lifting Him to nurse for the first time. \u201cTake\u2026 eat\u2026 little guy. This will give you life,\u201d Because Who better than Jesus\u2019 Mom to teach her Son to sucker those that stand in need of sucker. Watching him eat she might have reached her hand under the blanket, counting 10 little toes, and 5 fingers on the little hand that rested on her chest. Then looking back at her baby\u2026 \u201cYou\u2019re perfect.\u201d  Then looking back at the little cave\u2026 maybe she saw a strong, but worried, husband trying to keep a cow and three sheep away from the little feed box\u2026 the one where they would lay The Baby as soon as he was fed. Did she see him gather fresh straw and use his outer robe for a baby bed. Joseph, she might have said to herself, feeling a surge of love for the humble man would raise the Son of God. After eating, did the Baby roll his eyes around\u2026 and look back up at Mary, before falling asleep in her arms? \u201cJoseph\u201d, she might have whispered with the hint of a smile. \u201cHe\u2019s asleep.\u201d Joseph would quickly walk over to help Mary over to put her baby in the manger.   But when he approached, she may have said, \u201chold him, Joseph.\u201d Like a first time dad, Joseph\u2019s unsure eyes would meet Mary\u2019s. \u201cHe loves you,\u201d she might have said as he apprehensively picked up the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.   Together they might have laid him in that manger, maybe even a little grateful at this point to be outside, not in the crowded Inn.   After all that\u2019s been said, perhaps the old inn keeper had an inkling that this couple needed to see the heavens tonight.   And just maybe, the heavens needed to see them too.     Sidenote,   Although he passed away ten years ago, I can still hear my Grandpa\u2019s voice every Christmas Eve reading from the King James\u2026 \u201cAnd it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Ceaser Augustus, that all the world should be taxed\u2026\u201d   This year more than ever before different parts of the story are sticking out to me.   Like that the Son of God wasn\u2019t born at home in Nazareth, with family, safety, and a midwife\u2026  because of taxes and a census.  That\u2019s weird. Cause I\u2019ve requested extensions for much less than childbirth. But the Roman\u2019s were oppressing the Jews, yeah, there was no getting out of paying that money on time.   God\u2019s people spend a lot of their time oppressed\u2026 and where the Bible stops our history books fill in the gaps.   Right now though, to me though, there\u2019s mysterious hero.   The Inn Keeper. More specifically, the last Inn Keeper, because surely Joseph didn\u2019t just knock one door and settle for the little cave where the animals were fed.   Looking backwards it might be easy to criticize that Inn Keeper who sent the expectant Mother Of Our Savior and her husband Joseph down the road to sleep with the animals.  But for all we know, He was doing exactly what God knew He would do in that spot.   Often what we see as an obstacle to the plan, IS THE PLAN.   (For more on that thought, read some of Marcus Aurelius, who IRONICALLY was a Roman)   I\u2019ll repeat the idea though, because it\u2019s the thought today.   The obstacle to the way, is the way.   Our Father in Heaven, wasn\u2019t opposed to announcing His Son. He told the Shepherds, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Wisemen in the East, and prophets for 4000 years in the Old Testament. The prophecies were memorized by those very Jews in Bethlehem!    However, God does seem opposed to telling us exactly how everything is going to go down.   That job loss, the injury, the girl or boy that steals your heart right after you swear off love to focus on your career\u2026  or the one breaks it just as you were licking envelopes for the wedding invites. What about the early baby? The bankruptcy. The disease. The divorce. The Unexpected death.   God\u2019s plan doesn\u2019t look like ours in other words, \u201cMy ways are not Thy Ways\u201d.   So let\u2019s replay this\u2026  you be the Inn Keeper.   You\u2019re sitting in your room and an angel comes. \u201cGreetings Friend\u2019 says the angel, \u2018I just wanted to drop by and let you know that The Son of God is currently in His Mother\u2019s tummy riding on top of a donkey with her husband. She\u2019s going to have the baby any day now. They\u2019ll be knocking at your door in about 30 minutes. Also, please, don\u2019t put anyone out sir. The stable will be a  fine birthplace for the Redeemer of Israel.\u201d   So why didn\u2019t He tell the Inn Keeper? Because, like us, he would\u2019ve cleared the place out and scrubbed it top to bottom\u2026 and rolled out the red carpet. Like us, he might\u2019ve thought to correct God with our good intentions.   God\u2019s plan wasn\u2019t to make the birth safe, sterile, or comfy, His plan was to let His Son descend below everything from the get go. And for two of His most loved children Joseph and Mary to become more like Jesus in the process.     God is in the details of our lives. Orchestrating.   Thanks for listening.   I\u2019m Mark Mabry                         ","author_name":"Thought Design with Mark Mabry","author_url":"http:\/\/giftedandlifted.com","html":"