What is normal? It could be a definition accepted in your family or immediate surroundings. But strange in another locale.
Mary was a young lady, a godly one. A girl open to the Lord’s will. Her engagement to Joseph hit a significant bump on her way to the altar. An angel told her she would have a child, a normal thing. However, this child will come about by the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, not normal.
Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, was told his bride-to-be was pregnant. The child was not Joseph’s. In a dream, an angel of the Lord informed Joseph to take Mary as his wife, not normal.
Meanwhile, the Roman emperor ordered a national census. To be registered, Joseph had to return to his birthplace. While there, Joseph’s wife, Mary, would give birth to Jesus, but with no room in the local motel. They bedded down for the night in the local barn, not normal.
When Mary delivered Jesus, God’s only Son, his first bed was an animal feeding trough, not normal. Soon shepherds came to see her son. Angels informed the shepherds where to find Jesus, not normal.
Later, probably two years, some wise man followed a star to locate Jesus, not normal. When they inquired to the local ruler, he informed the travelers Jesus was in Bethlehem. Scriptures, in Micah 5:2, recorded 700 years earlier that Bethlehem was the Messiah’s birthplace. When the searchers located Jesus, they gave gifts. After departing, Joseph was warned in another dream to relocate to Egypt (Matthew 2:13). This, too, was predicted in the Bible (Hosea 11:1), not normal because Herod ordered the elimination of all male children under two years of age.
After a while, angels again informed Joseph in another dream to return to Israel (Mathew 2:19, 20), not normal. Joseph and his family returned to Israel, settling in Capernaum.
Nothing is mentioned in the Bible about the following years of the Lord’s life, indicating a regular early childhood until the age of 12.
It was then, the Lord’s parents made their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover, typical for Jewish families. After the holiday, Jesus did not return home with his parents, which was not normal for a young man. Instead, he remained in Jerusalem and taught in the Temple, not normal for a 12-year-old.
When his parents found him three days later, Jesus announced he was about his heavenly Father’s business, not normal. After returning home, nothing is mentioned concerning the Lord for the next eighteen years, indicating a routine adolescent life.
It was then the Messiah began his ministry, not a normal one. He taught and performed miracles for three-plus years while training 12 men to succeed him, not normal. Then one night, Judas, one of the 12, betrayed the Lord. Jesus was arrested, tried, and convicted to death. Jesus was then crucified for our sins, not normal.
Jesus arose from the grave, not normal. Afterward, he taught his disciples some more before ascending into heaven in their sight, once again not normal.
So, what is normal to you? Do you listen when God speaks to your heart? If you are wise, you will listen then obey his directions. An adventure awaits you that is not normal. You will never be sorry you followed his instructions.
