My wife and I are going to be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary at Christmas time this year by taking a special trip. The location of our destination is still a surprise to my wife, so I will not mention it by name here. However, while looking for accommodations in one part of this country, I was amazed to learn that we weren’t the only ones hoping to visit this particular area at Christmas time! There were no rooms, whatsoever, available, except for one “bed and breakfast” (This is how we would label this accommodation in our country), which had 100% vacancies. Strange, don’t you think?

The online pictures of that accommodation were a bit disturbing. The bed in the picture seemed to be concave. I could imagine being afraid to move in my sleep, in case the bed might split down the middle! The bed was not neatly made up, either. In fact, it seemed to have been taken directly from the “Adams Family”. I could just imagine bats and wolves streaming out during the night. But then, maybe I do sometimes tend to have a vivid imagination … But vivid imagination or not, red flags rose in my mind. I could be wrong, but I didn’t want to take the chance of finding a room that was unworthy of my bride of 25 years. I decided to look in a nearby area. Although the distance could be a problem, accommodations would hopefully be more acceptable for my wife.

That’s when I realized how often we are disturbed for the wrong reasons!

“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matt 2:3-4 NIV)

When the birth of the Messiah was announced, King Herod, as well as all of Jerusalem, was disturbed. None of this disturbance led anyone to visit the newborn king. Instead a horde of bloodthirsty soldiers were sent on their way to make that disturbance disappear! Jesus was not welcome in this place! He was a nuisance! People wanted to get ride of Him because they were disturbed for selfish reasons!

When the “I” reigns in our heart, others tend to be of no-importance.

Interestingly, no one was disturbed in Bethlehem when a soon mother-to-be had no private room to deliver her baby!

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:6-7 NIV)

Is there anyone who still cares for others? Why is it so much easier to criticize than reach out and help? Have we lost the capacity to see others through God’s eyes?

May I encourage each one of us to think about the reasons behind the times when our comfort is disturbed. Are there selfish motives attached to this notion? Let’s put these things away and start working for the good of others instead of only thinking about ourselves. During this season that commemorates what God has done for us, let’s reach out to the ones in need. May the true Spirit of Christmas come alive in us!

“I have still a room available for you. Would two mats be comfortable enough for you to sleep on?”

“It all depends! Do they have a 5 star mattress underneath them?”

Rob Chaffart

(To view the entire “Nairobi, Here I Come!” devotional series, please click here.)