Have you ever felt like life was spiraling out of control? Boy, I sure have! I’ve learned the hard way never to ask myself, “What else could go wrong?” Sometimes, life just doesn’t go the way we planned.

When I think about the Christmas story and try to put myself in Mary’s shoes, I really feel for her. Here’s this young woman, unexpectedly pregnant and facing a truly life-or-death situation if her fiancé wanted to press charges against her. She’s not in control of anything. Her marriage was arranged, in the first place … her pregnancy was prophesied, but it is still a scandalous situation … and yet, she takes everything in stride.

We read in Luke 1 that when Mary visited her relative Elizabeth (mother-to-be of John the Baptist) in Judea, she stuck around for a few months before heading home to Nazareth. Finally, in her last couple of trimesters, Mary has a chance to settle down and prepare for her firstborn. She probably calls on the help of her sister, mother and/or a local midwife to be on call. Joseph has gotten over the initial shock of her pregnancy by now, and they are getting used to each other as husband and wife. As crazy as the past few months have been for them, perhaps things are starting to feel somewhat “normal.”

And then, Caesar Augustus throws a wrench in her plans. The one thing that Mary thinks she can finally control – where she would give birth – turns into chaos yet again. She and Joseph have to prepare for a trek all the way to Bethlehem for a national census to appease the Romans in charge. We have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story, about how it all worked out according to God’s plan, but imagine being in Mary and Joseph’s shoes in that moment – uprooted and uncertain about the next few hours, much less tomorrow or the day after that!

I love the way The Message translates Proverbs 19:21, “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD’s purpose prevails.” As out-of-control as our lives may feel at any given moment, we can look to the bizarre situation that Mary and Joseph found themselves in and be reminded that we all deal with uncertainties. At some point, we will come face-to-face with the choice to trust God or keep trying (in vain) to manage things our own way. Heed Mary & Joseph’s example and let God take the lead.