The Website home of Karl Bullock

December 24, 2011

So, just what is the plan? There has to be a plan. Things have gone on just too long and something has to be done.

What is the leadership up to? I mean, people are hurting, and demanding action. The current regime is corrupt, abusive, and by the way, they're just not our kind of people, right? We need at a minimum a great political victory, and if that won't work, we have people in the wings ready with an armed solution. We're just not going to wait any longer.

Our current "leaders" seem to be ineffective, and are manipulated by the powers-that-be at every junction, and we're just not so sure they're not part of the problem. No matter what we do, it seems things get worse, and frankly, we're just tired of it all.

So, where's our new leadership going to come from? There are many among us with the capability, but with all the weapons arrayed against us, we just can't seem to get any traction. The deck seems to be stacked against anyone with any sense getting anywhere, and when a potential leader tries to emerge, he's crushed by the regime, and no one seems to be able to do anything about it.

But wait, something strange seems to be happening. About thirty years ago, there was a disturbance in a small town to the east, and rumors of a leader emerging, but that can't be true. As it turns out, this guy was born in an obscure town to a people not known for anything of substance. On top of that, he was born to an unwed mother who was so poor he was delivered in a cave. Then, he disappeared back into obscurity only to reemerge as a common workman in, again, a not-so-notable place. It appears to just be another of those rumors, and besides, he's not a great political or military leader, so we just don't see how any faith could be placed in him. And now, we hear this guy has been hunted down, arrested, and will be executed for crimes against the regime, and it turns out his own people turned him in. Yep - same old story - no change.

Yet, as we now know years later, he was the great leader we'd needed, only I wouldn't have done it that way. No, if I'd been in charge, I'd have sent a great political and military leader who would crush the opposition and set things up the way they should be, and we'd be set. No, if I'd had my way, I'd have certainly done it differently, and if I had, I'd have failed miserably, just like all the "leaders" before me.

Instead, what we received was something more monumental and amazing than we could ever have expected. We were given the son of the Most High Himself, who came and instead of defeating an earthly leadership and setting up yet another government destined to fail at some point, He fully defeated the root cause of all our problems - sin and death! Looking back now, the miracle of that seemingly insignificant birth in that third rate town to an unwed mother, out of town, on tax day, and in a cave turns out to be the event that generations will celebrate until the end of time. As it turns out, His plan was much better -- No, actually it was perfect.

So, as we look now two thousand years later at a similar political situation in a world still broken, and as we stare through the frustrations, there's one thing we can count on. There is a plan. It is perfect, and unexpected, and inevitable. So, as we marvel at that birth in Bethlehem and that life of only thirty-three years that changed the world, and has the ability to change lives forever, we know there's a victory just waiting around the bend. So take hope. God is still in control. He still directs the affairs of men, regardless of whether those men acknowledge Him or not. And as we look at the life of His Son, and the resurrection that saves, there is still reason to be happy, merry, and hopeful.

So, Merry Christmas!

There's a new year, and more pieces of the plan to be revealed just around the corner.

Celebrate the Birth. Enjoy the adventure!!!

Karl