Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
“In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”
– Luke 2:1-4
Devotional
“In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son.” Here we see how God used a pagan world dictator to issue a decree to take a census that would involve the mobilization and relocation of the entire Roman population. This was no accident. Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Micah prophesied, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” God moves the entire population of the world to ensure that His Son would be born in Bethlehem just as Micah prophesied. Here we see God actively working in the world political system to bring about an event that would usher in the first advent of the Messiah.
The Big Question
We don’t always see or know what God is doing behind the scenes to bring about His perfect will. Throughout the Bible God is seen working in and through the lives of believers and unbelievers alike. How does it make you feel to know that God is always at work around you even if you are not able to see it? What does God reveal about Himself as we read about His activity during the “silent years”?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what God revealed to you today?