There is something about the holidays that gets you ready to shop sales. Before we had kids, my wife and I would go out early in the morning both the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas to get the best deals of the year. There is a powerful draw with those door busters that makes you want to freeze in the early morning in a line of competition … I mean shoppers.

Then there is the dreaded employee who makes their way out with numbers. I remember waiting in a popular electronics store line and they came out asking customers in line what they were waiting in line for. They would hand out the tag for that item to those in the front of the line and sure enough, by the time they reached us there were no more door busters. Now frozen, saddened, but still believing there were good deals inside, we would make the choice to stay or go to the next store on our list.

Well, times have changed. Now we have three beautiful girls and we don’t yet wake them up at 3 a.m. to go catch the big sale.I stay home and sacrifice myself so they can rest while my wife braves the shopping lines (you can almost feel sorry for me, huh?).

So what does this remotely have to do with faith? Luke 2 records the birth of Jesus. Joseph and Mary had made their way to Bethlehem due to a census and while they were there Mary gave birth to the Son of God, Jesus. In verse 7 it says “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (NIV).

Joseph and Mary had made the trip and tried to beat the crowds, but found themselves out in the cold. Go figure the timing of it all … they give birth to their firstborn son and have to wrap him in clothes and lay him in a manger. The Son of God.

OK, so it was a little different from our shopping experiences; but they were still left out in the cold because all the others beat them to the spaces available.

Maybe you have watched the show “Undercover Boss,” where the chief executive officer of a corporation makes his or her way through the lowest ranks of the company to observe how the business operates from the viewpoint of a new employee. There are always great moments where the boss can’t do the work correctly and often they get fired in one way or another. The company later hosts a huge gathering and everyone laughs as they watch the footage together.

Imagine being able to go back to the days of Jesus’ birth and watching the footage over again. Do you think the innkeeper was laughing about the fact that he sent the son of God to the manger? How do you think the travelers who cut in line felt, if there was anyone like that? What about the farmer who kept the manger in order…we never see this guy in scripture, but you know he existed and like any person who loved their organizational ability they had to be ticked that everything was out of sorts.

This season you might find yourself feeling like you are in the back of the line. You may feel like all the good in life has passed you by and you are left out in the cold when those who are more blessed have found some sort of favor in life you missed out on. Not so. The wonderful thing about this time of year is we are all reminded at Christmas that Jesus came to us in the most humble of means. The mother and father of Jesus were left out, but they did not throw in the towel, they made the most of it and focused on the purpose of God for their son and life.

This Christmas let me challenge you to do the same. Make it to church in the next couple of weeks and rediscover God’s purpose for you. When you can see your future you will not be overwhelmed when you get left out in the cold.