6 Ways the Nativity Story Reminds Us Not Even The Perfect One Had a Perfect Beginning

By: Jessika Sanders

We love to make plans, especially surrounding our children. We plan creative pregnancy announcements and gender reveal parties. We plan elaborate baby showers. We even make birth plans on how we would like to labor and deliver our children.

Despite the fact that we live in a fallen world where literally everything is impacted by sin, we somehow think we deserve a picture-perfect, happy-ending birth story. While sometimes labor and delivery may go as planned, Proverbs 19:21 ESV reminds us, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

If your pregnancy ended in premature birth, trauma, a NICU stay, or even if you find yourself grieving all you missed out on, may the details surrounding Mary’s pregnancy and the birth of Jesus minister to you.

Read on to learn 6 ways the nativity story reminds us not even The Perfect One had a perfect beginning and how His story can give us peace even in imperfection.

1. An Unexpected Pregnancy Announcement

“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Luke 1:30-32 ESV

I’m willing to bet the way in which Mary’s pregnancy was revealed to her was nothing like she expected. I’m not sure how pregnancies were announced in Biblical times, but I do know that encounters with angels were a huge deal.

We see multiple occurrences in the Bible where individuals are frightened to the point of death by their angel encounters. (That’s probably why the first words spoken by the angels are often, “Fear not!”) Can you imagine Mary’s surprise to learn she was chosen to carry the Messiah and the process by which it was to happen—immaculate conception! In all the world and in all time, nothing like this had ever happened or would ever happen again.

When Your Pregnancy Announcement Doesn't Go As Planned

When I learned I was pregnant I was living in Florida and my husband was living in South Carolina. Though I would have loved to orchestrate a creative way to reveal the news, with some 700 miles between us and my incapability to withhold the smallest of surprises, it just wasn't possible. I called my husband while still in the bathroom and blurted out the news as he sat in the stands at a baseball game. By many standards, it wasn't the perfect pregnancy announcement, but to me, there was perfection in the imperfection. It was our story.

Whether you deliver before a pregnancy announcement is possible, whether the announcement goes off without a hitch, or whether it is a complete disaster, take heart in knowing that the mother of the Perfect One didn’t even have the perfect pregnancy announcement. And while it wasn’t what she envisioned, it was exactly what the world needed.

Your child doesn’t need pomp and circumstance to announce their arrival, they are worthy because they are knit together by the Creator. They are worthy because they are a good and perfect gift from the Father.

2. A Time of Questioning and Doubt

“And Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’” Matthew 1: 19-21 ESV

In this fallen world, not all of us experience healthy and whole relationships. We may have wounds that cause us to doubt or we may be so in our heads that our inner dialogues take the lead on how we respond.

From the scriptures, we see that Joseph’s first inclination was to lean toward the natural versus the supernatural. In his logic and understanding, it made more sense to conclude that Mary was unfaithful than to think of all the women in the world she might be the virgin chosen to carry the Messiah. And although there was suspected doubt concerning Mary’s pregnancy, the Lord sent an angel to Joseph to clear things up. While the world might be full of confusion, the Lord is all about clarity.