๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ค๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ, ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ต, ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ, ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ, ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐, ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ. โ๐๐๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ:๐ญโ๐ฑ
Have you ever thought what an amazing thing it is that God ordained beforehand that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem (as the prophecy in Micah 5 shows); and that he so ordained things that when the time came, the Messiahโs mother and legal father were living in Nazareth; and that in order to fulfill his word and bring two little people to Bethlehem that first Christmas, God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus that all the Roman world should be enrolled each in his own town?
Have you ever felt, like me, little and insignificant in a world of seven billion people, where all the news is of big political and economic and social movements and of outstanding people with lots of power and prestige?
If you have, donโt let that make you disheartened or unhappy. For it is implicit in Scripture that all the mammoth political forces and all the giant industrial complexes, without their even knowing it, are being guided by God, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐โ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐โthe little Mary and the little Joseph who have to be got from Nazareth to Bethlehem. ๐๐ค๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฃ.
Do not think, because you experience adversity, that the hand of the Lord is shortened. ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ. And to that end, he rules the whole world. As Proverbs 21:1 says, โThe kingโs heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.โ
๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ, ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข, ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ง๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ก๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฃ, ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ง๐ข๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐ ๐๐จ๐ช๐จ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ.
SOURCE: Taken from Good News of Great Joy (Daily Readings for Advent) by John Piper. ยฉ 2013