I like to watch people - I love to imagine what their stories might be. I wonder what they’re doing, where they’re going, and why. I wonder what has brought them to this point - the point where they cross the path of my life, and I wonder where they will end up. People truly intrigue me - who are they, and what are their stories?
Recently, I had an opportunity to talk with a stranger. Through a series of events that I do not understand, I was on the other end of the phone when they called.
Broken, hurting, full of doubt and fear - I got all that from the first sentence.
We talked for about 15 minutes, and I don’t have any idea if anything I said to her was helpful. We prayed together before she hung up the phone. I don’t know why she called, I don’t know why I was the one who answered, but I hope that it brought some peace into her life.
As we consider Christmas, I sometimes wonder - why did the angels pick those shepherds to appear to? Why not shepherds in a different field, who were also keeping watch over their flocks?
What were their stories? What did they need, on that particular night, that seeing Jesus could provide to them? Did they need encouragement? hope? peace? Did they need it more than other shepherds who may have also been nearby?
How about the wise men? Were there none who were closer, in order to celebrate Jesus’s birth on time? Why were these the wise men sent to meet the new King?
We don’t know their stories - history may be able to tell us a little more about them, but we’ll probably never know exactly why it was these particular people who are mentioned as participants in the Savior’s birth.
It’s the same for us - we may not know why we cross paths with someone. It may seem to be for no particular reason, but it may be a stepping stone on their journey, or maybe on ours.
In this season of Christmas and celebration of Jesus’s birth, as you cross paths with someone, remember that maybe you are meeting them for a reason, a purpose. Maybe you are the only glimpse of Jesus that they will see this season. Be open to what God sets before you.
In whose life will you be a part of the story?
What do they need that God has set in you, to provide for them?
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