No Room

As I said yesterday, I'm gonna take these few weeks leading us toward Christmas to talk about the Christmas story in depth. Yesterday I talked about the journey to Bethlehem. Today I'm gonna talk about Luke 2:6-7,

6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

So Mary has gone through this uncomfortable journey to Bethlehem, probably hoping all along that they would make it to Bethlehem before she had her baby. Then they make it to Bethlehem, and there was no place to stay. So one innkeeper allowed them to stay in his stable.
A STABLE. Now I don't know about you, but had I been Mary, I would have been a tad bit upset. I mean, she probably longed for a nice, comfortable place to rest, but instead she was offered a pile of straw.
Then the pains started, and I'm sure she thought, "This can't be right! The Savior of the World can't be born here with the cows and the donkeys." But no matter what Mary thought about the situation she found herself in, she knew Jesus was about to be born, and He would be born in the midst of the animals and the dirt and manure.
And so there, in a barn Mary delivered a Son. God's Son. And she wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger bed.
I mean think about it, they had been turned away by every innkeeper. No one had room for the Savior. Jesus was rejected even before He was born. But that was no surprise to God. Check out Isaiah 53:3,

"3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

It is no surprise that Jesus came to this world in a lowly stable. Long before He was born, the prophets had declared He would be rejected. They were saying how He would come as a lowly servant, but most were looking for a mighty king.
I'm sure Mary did a lot of praying as she watched her baby sleeping peacefully to the lullaby of the mooing of cows and brays of donkeys. I can imagine her saying, "Lord, I'm your servant. I don't understand all of this, but I'm your servant, no matter where you send us."
At this Christmas season, I want to have that kind of heart. I want to be open and willing to do what God wants me to do, despite the discomfort of the situation. I want to be willing to go even when I don't understand why God has me in a certain place. How about you?