Communication Blog Post
The Humble Arrival: Finding God in the Lowly Places
When we think about divine intervention, our minds often conjure images of grandeur—blazing lights, angelic choirs filling cathedral halls, or miraculous signs that shake the foundations of the earth. Yet the greatest arrival in human history happened in the most unexpected place: a feeding trough surrounded by animals, in a forgotten corner of an insignificant town.
This paradox reveals something profound about how God operates in our world and in our lives.
The Promise of Peace in Dark Times
Isaiah prophesied centuries before the event: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
These words came during a time of national instability, spiritual darkness, political fragility, and moral compromise. Sound familiar? Every generation faces its own chaos, its own moment when the world seems to be spinning out of control. The people of Isaiah's time could have easily believed they were witnessing the end of days.
But into that darkness came a promise—not of a warrior king arriving with armies, not of a political savior with earthly power, but of a child. A vulnerable, dependent infant who would change everything.
The Scandal of the Manger
Luke's Gospel tells us there was no room in the inn. The King of Kings, the Creator of the universe, was born among animals and laid in a manger—a feeding trough. Let that sink in for a moment. The place where animals ate their meals became the first cradle for the Savior of the world.
This wasn't an accident or a unfortunate circumstance. This was divine intention.
God deliberately chose to enter human history through the lowest door possible. He didn't arrive in Herod's palace or Caesar's court. He didn't make His entrance in the temple among the religious elite. He came to shepherds in fields, to a young unmarried woman, to a place that smelled of hay and animal waste.
Why? Because God shows up where we least expect Him—and where pride would never think to look.
Where Pride Never Looks
Pride has a particular blindness. It scans the horizon for impressive credentials, for platforms and status, for places that reflect glory back on itself. Pride expects God in palaces, in five-bedroom houses in the right neighborhoods, in positions of influence and power.
But God consistently chooses humble ones.
Consider the pattern throughout Scripture:
God met Hagar in the wilderness when she was cast out and desperate
He encountered Moses on the backside of Midian, tending sheep
He chose David from the pasture, not from the palace
He revealed His Son to shepherds, not scholars
Pride avoids the lowly places—places of brokenness, weakness, need, and dependence. These are precisely the places where God does His most transformative work.
The Fourfold Name: Who Jesus Really Is
Isaiah's prophecy gives us four titles that reveal the nature of this child:
Wonderful Counselor speaks to His supernatural wisdom. At twelve years old, He astounded the religious teachers in the temple. He doesn't just sympathize with our confusion—He leads us through it. While we Google everything or turn to artificial intelligence for answers, Jesus remains the only counselor who knows our past, present, and future completely.
Mighty God reveals His divine power. This isn't delegated authority; this is God Himself. The baby in the manger is the same God who parted the Red Sea. Never underestimate what appears small or humble—it may contain the power of the Almighty.
Everlasting Father speaks to His role as source, protector, and sustainer. Earthly fathers may fail or abandon, but this Father never leaves. He provides resources, protects from danger, and sustains us through every season.
Prince of Peace offers what the world desperately seeks but cannot manufacture. True peace—shalom—means wholeness, restoration, and order. It doesn't come from political treaties or personal success. It comes when Christ is King in your life.
Peace isn't the absence of conflict; it's the presence of God's rule.
The Danger of Pride in Our Own Lives
Here's the challenging truth: pride doesn't just affect how we see others or where we expect to find God. It affects our own spiritual journey.
Pride looks for impressive places, but God chooses humble ones. Pride seeks credentials and platforms, but God looks for availability and obedience. Pride avoids places that expose weakness, but God enters exactly those places to invite dependence on Him.
When we're too proud to work certain jobs, live in certain neighborhoods, or associate with certain people, we may be missing where God is moving most powerfully. When we assume we already know how God should work, we miss Him entirely—just like the religious leaders who missed Jesus because He didn't fit their expectations.
You don't find Jesus by climbing higher. You find Him by kneeling lower.
Humility: The Pathway to Blessing
The shepherds found Jesus because they were humble enough to follow the angel's direction to an unlikely place. The wise men found Him because they were willing to travel far and bow low. Mary received the greatest honor in human history because she said, "I am the Lord's servant."
God will do above and beyond what we can imagine, but often not in the timing or manner we expect. Dreams may sit dormant for decades before God brings them to fulfillment. Prayers may seem unanswered until suddenly, in His perfect timing, the door opens.
The key is maintaining a humble, available, teachable spirit. When we humble ourselves, God exalts us—in His time, in His way.
A Christmas Challenge
As we celebrate this season, let's examine our own hearts. Are we looking for God only in the impressive places? Do we expect Him to work only through people with the right credentials, status, or platforms?
Or are we willing to look in the manger—in the lowly, humble, unexpected places where pride would never search?
God often speaks in the wilderness, in the waiting, in the weakness. He meets us in our brokenness, not our polish. He uses our availability more than our ability.
The baby born in Bethlehem grew up to say, "Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." He lived it first, entering the world in the most humble way imaginable.
This Christmas, perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the gift of humility—letting go of our need to control, our attachment to status, our pride in credentials. When we do, we make room in the inn of our hearts for the One who still chooses to dwell in lowly places.
He's coming to your situation, but you might not recognize how He arrives. Will you be watching in the unexpected places?
When we think about divine intervention, our minds often conjure images of grandeur—blazing lights, angelic choirs filling cathedral halls, or miraculous signs that shake the foundations of the earth. Yet the greatest arrival in human history happened in the most unexpected place: a feeding trough surrounded by animals, in a forgotten corner of an insignificant town.
This paradox reveals something profound about how God operates in our world and in our lives.
The Promise of Peace in Dark Times
Isaiah prophesied centuries before the event: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
These words came during a time of national instability, spiritual darkness, political fragility, and moral compromise. Sound familiar? Every generation faces its own chaos, its own moment when the world seems to be spinning out of control. The people of Isaiah's time could have easily believed they were witnessing the end of days.
But into that darkness came a promise—not of a warrior king arriving with armies, not of a political savior with earthly power, but of a child. A vulnerable, dependent infant who would change everything.
The Scandal of the Manger
Luke's Gospel tells us there was no room in the inn. The King of Kings, the Creator of the universe, was born among animals and laid in a manger—a feeding trough. Let that sink in for a moment. The place where animals ate their meals became the first cradle for the Savior of the world.
This wasn't an accident or a unfortunate circumstance. This was divine intention.
God deliberately chose to enter human history through the lowest door possible. He didn't arrive in Herod's palace or Caesar's court. He didn't make His entrance in the temple among the religious elite. He came to shepherds in fields, to a young unmarried woman, to a place that smelled of hay and animal waste.
Why? Because God shows up where we least expect Him—and where pride would never think to look.
Where Pride Never Looks
Pride has a particular blindness. It scans the horizon for impressive credentials, for platforms and status, for places that reflect glory back on itself. Pride expects God in palaces, in five-bedroom houses in the right neighborhoods, in positions of influence and power.
But God consistently chooses humble ones.
Consider the pattern throughout Scripture:
God met Hagar in the wilderness when she was cast out and desperate
He encountered Moses on the backside of Midian, tending sheep
He chose David from the pasture, not from the palace
He revealed His Son to shepherds, not scholars
Pride avoids the lowly places—places of brokenness, weakness, need, and dependence. These are precisely the places where God does His most transformative work.
The Fourfold Name: Who Jesus Really Is
Isaiah's prophecy gives us four titles that reveal the nature of this child:
Wonderful Counselor speaks to His supernatural wisdom. At twelve years old, He astounded the religious teachers in the temple. He doesn't just sympathize with our confusion—He leads us through it. While we Google everything or turn to artificial intelligence for answers, Jesus remains the only counselor who knows our past, present, and future completely.
Mighty God reveals His divine power. This isn't delegated authority; this is God Himself. The baby in the manger is the same God who parted the Red Sea. Never underestimate what appears small or humble—it may contain the power of the Almighty.
Everlasting Father speaks to His role as source, protector, and sustainer. Earthly fathers may fail or abandon, but this Father never leaves. He provides resources, protects from danger, and sustains us through every season.
Prince of Peace offers what the world desperately seeks but cannot manufacture. True peace—shalom—means wholeness, restoration, and order. It doesn't come from political treaties or personal success. It comes when Christ is King in your life.
Peace isn't the absence of conflict; it's the presence of God's rule.
The Danger of Pride in Our Own Lives
Here's the challenging truth: pride doesn't just affect how we see others or where we expect to find God. It affects our own spiritual journey.
Pride looks for impressive places, but God chooses humble ones. Pride seeks credentials and platforms, but God looks for availability and obedience. Pride avoids places that expose weakness, but God enters exactly those places to invite dependence on Him.
When we're too proud to work certain jobs, live in certain neighborhoods, or associate with certain people, we may be missing where God is moving most powerfully. When we assume we already know how God should work, we miss Him entirely—just like the religious leaders who missed Jesus because He didn't fit their expectations.
You don't find Jesus by climbing higher. You find Him by kneeling lower.
Humility: The Pathway to Blessing
The shepherds found Jesus because they were humble enough to follow the angel's direction to an unlikely place. The wise men found Him because they were willing to travel far and bow low. Mary received the greatest honor in human history because she said, "I am the Lord's servant."
God will do above and beyond what we can imagine, but often not in the timing or manner we expect. Dreams may sit dormant for decades before God brings them to fulfillment. Prayers may seem unanswered until suddenly, in His perfect timing, the door opens.
The key is maintaining a humble, available, teachable spirit. When we humble ourselves, God exalts us—in His time, in His way.
A Christmas Challenge
As we celebrate this season, let's examine our own hearts. Are we looking for God only in the impressive places? Do we expect Him to work only through people with the right credentials, status, or platforms?
Or are we willing to look in the manger—in the lowly, humble, unexpected places where pride would never search?
God often speaks in the wilderness, in the waiting, in the weakness. He meets us in our brokenness, not our polish. He uses our availability more than our ability.
The baby born in Bethlehem grew up to say, "Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." He lived it first, entering the world in the most humble way imaginable.
This Christmas, perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the gift of humility—letting go of our need to control, our attachment to status, our pride in credentials. When we do, we make room in the inn of our hearts for the One who still chooses to dwell in lowly places.
He's coming to your situation, but you might not recognize how He arrives. Will you be watching in the unexpected places?
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