I needed to run some errands today, so I drove into Portage, finished one errand and was on my way to the next when my car suddenly didn’t feel right. Was one of my tires low on air? I pulled over on a side street. Hmm. I don’t know much about cars, but it sure seemed like my lug nuts shouldn’t be so loose I could turn them with my fingers. I dug through my trunk and found the tire iron. I tightened up the lug nuts, and drove on to the grocery store. I finished up there, and started out. Suddenly the car felt weird again. Okay. I pulled over at a gas station. This time, I got out the jack, jacked up the car, tightened the lug nuts, and then tightened them again when the weight was back on the tire. This time I did it right, right? Nope. A couple blocks later, they were loose again. I pulled into the parking lot of a car parts store. I didn’t know what to do. One thing was for sure: If I had to stop every three blocks to tighten the lug nuts, it was going to be a long drive home. On Sunday, December 11, Pastor Chris concluded his two-part Christmas sermon series. He spoke about some of the seemingly random, difficult, and tragic events surrounding the Christmas story. Like migrant workers, Joseph and Mary seem always on the move. Mary travels to Judea, stays with Elizabeth, then returns to Galilee. The Romans tell Joseph that he and very expectant Mary must make a difficult journey. They try to settle down in Bethlehem, but a power-mad king drives them away to Egypt. Yet Egypt isn’t home, so they head back to Judea, and change their destination mid-route—ending up in Galilee. When the story picks up again, Jesus is twelve, and, once again, they are traveling. Roman oppression and gossipy prejudice accounted for most of these migrations. These relocations could seem arbitrary, but they aren’t. Every time, without realizing it, they hit the bullseye of God’s perfect plan. My takeaway? When we seem in the grip of forces we cannot control, let’s remember that stronger arms are at work, and God will not let something so small as a power-mad king—or, for that matter, all the legions of hell—meddle with His perfectly crafted plan. Anyway, back to my car and the loose lug nuts. I called my neighbor. Yep. He knew what the problem was. But no, I couldn’t fix it there. Not with just a tire iron. Yes, he could fix it. And yes, he would drive over with his trailer and tow me home. The car is at the neighbor’s. I’m confident it will be fixed. Just like everything that went wrong with our lives. Dwight
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