Recently, my sister sent a cartoon meme. The picture is the nativity scene, but instead of three wise men, there are three women with diapers, formula and casseroles. The title is ‘if there had been three wise women instead’.

While amusing on the surface, a red flag went off in my soul. Several lies lurk under the surface of this sentiment.

The first thing is the attitude presented that we know better than God what is best for our children, our husbands, our lives and the world.

As women who can multi-task, organizing, planning and overseeing our families, we can become prideful in the gifts the Lord has given us. Slipping into the belief we are smarter, superior and know what everyone needs comes easily. The enemy whispers that we, however, don’t need anyone else, including God.

When Christ, the Son of God, was born, Joseph and Mary had nothing but the bare essentials with them. They were poor, unprepared, young parents who struggled to eke out an existence for possibly two years. The wise men didn’t show up when Jesus was a baby, but later when he was a toddler. It took a while to get places in those days. No trains, planes or automobiles, only lumpy camels, and horses for the rich and famous!

When the wise men did arrive, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. “What kind of gifts are those for a baby?” we ask. Typical men! But at that time, they were gifts fit for a king. Gold, the most precious of metals, which signified royalty, nobility and wealth. Frankincense, a costly incense, was used only for special occasions such as anointing priests and kings, a sacrificial offering, or weddings for those with the means. Then myrrh, also expensive, and used as an anesthetic, in perfume, or for embalming.

Mary didn’t need formula, because women breastfed their babies in those days or found someone who did. Diapers were cloth and washed by hand. And casseroles? Well, there was no fridge or freezer to store them in and no microwave to heat them up.

God sent exactly the right gifts that Joseph and Mary needed to raise His son. Gold would provide immediate income for food and housing. Frankincense and myrrh could be sold as they needed when they fled to Egypt, until they settled in Nazareth. He sent the exact right people, at the exact right time, with the exact right gifts.

He does the same for us.

But sometimes, life doesn’t go how we think it should. Jobs disappear, food gets scarce, people get sick, our bodies break down, etc. Life gets out of our control no matter how we organize, plan or manipulate it, and we believe the ultimate age-old lie of the enemy, that God does not have our best interests at heart. He is holding out on us. And so, we redouble our efforts believing we can make things right, figure it out, and be God. How is that working out for us?

I know how it has worked for me in the past. NOT!

We need to turn to God and learn about His character in Scripture. When we taste and see that He is a good Father who loves us deeply, we can see His gifts and timing are perfect. When hard things come, He has a reason. He may show us in due time, or He may not, but He supplies grace in it, through the Holy Spirit.

I am not saying it is wrong to chuckle at the differences between men and women. It is good to laugh. I mean, it would be ridiculous to bring frankincense and myrrh to a new mother these days. But the laughter that belittles is not good laughter. Self-promotion is not good for the soul. That is God’s job and the job of those He brings as gifts into your life to encourage you.

Men are not women, and women are not men. God supplied different gifts to men and women for a reason, to complement one another and be the iron that helps to sharpen (Proverbs 27:17, NKJV).

Men are not perfect, but Sisters neither are we! When we mock and ridicule them, the lie slithers in, and we start to believe we are smarter, better, and superior. It is a quick slide from there to believing the same about God.

This Christmas, let’s look at the birth of Christ through the eyes of our Father, not the world or our own skewed vision. He sent Jesus as a man, not a woman. But he sent Him through a woman’s womb. There was and is a reason for the differences of the sexes. We each bring good and needed strengths to the world and relationships.

Let us rejoice in the Lord’s wisdom and rest in His goodness. He is the mighty One; He is in control, and He has His hand on your shoulder. The LORD is a good Father who didn’t hold back even His own Son for us. That is a gift worth celebrating!

Be well!

Patricia