The Road God Chose

Introduction — The Road No One Would Have Chosen

There are certain roads in life that none of us would choose.

Some roads are too hard…

too lonely…

too costly…

too uncertain…

And yet, strangely, these are often the very roads where God chooses to walk with us most closely.

When we think of Christmas, we often picture starlit skies, warm lights, singing angels, and a peaceful manger. But the first Christmas was not a postcard scene. It was a long, dusty, exhausting road. A road taken by ordinary people… on an ordinary donkey… through ordinary towns… carrying an extraordinary secret.

It is easy to forget that Christmas began not in Bethlehem, but on a road.

A road God Himself chose.

And today, I want to tell you the story of that road—not merely from Mary’s eyes or Joseph’s heart—but from the quiet perspective of the One who carried them. The beast of burden. The steady companion. The humble creature who bore the weight of the one who bore the Savior.

No words.

No voice.

No fame.

Just footsteps in the dust.

And yet, through that quiet, unnoticed presence, something profound emerges—something about how God works, how God comes, how God chooses His roads, and how God uses the humble things of this world to carry His greatest mercies.

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1. The Road That Didn’t Make Sense

Luke tells it so briefly you can almost miss it:

> “Joseph went up from Galilee… to Bethlehem… to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.” (Luke 2:4-5)

There it is. A whole world contained in a single sentence.

A young couple forced to travel ninety miles.

A woman nine months pregnant.

A man without options.

A dangerous road through desert and wilderness.

No one would have chosen it.

Certainly not Mary, who felt the child move with every jolt of the donkey’s step.

Certainly not Joseph, who worried with every mile whether he would make it in time.

Certainly not the donkey, who had no idea why his quiet life was being interrupted with such urgency.

And yet Scripture is unmistakably clear:

God chose this road.

“When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…”

(Galatians 4:4)

The fullness of time…

The exact moment…

The perfect road…

The perfect journey…

Even if it made no sense to anyone walking it.

Sometimes the road God chooses feels unreasonable.

Sometimes it feels inconvenient.

Sometimes it feels unfair.

Sometimes it feels like the wrong road at the wrong time.

But the road God chooses is always the one where He will reveal the most grace.

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2. Through the Eyes of the Least

Now imagine the journey through the eyes of the donkey.

He isn’t the hero.

He isn’t the center.

He isn’t even mentioned in Scripture.

But he is there.

His ears twitch at the sound of Mary’s breath in the cool of the morning.

His shoulders feel the shifting weight of new life carried by a young girl who whispers Scripture to calm herself.

His steps fall steady and faithful on a road he did not choose.

He hears Joseph humming hymns under his breath as he walks beside them.

He senses the tension, the worry, the tiredness, the hope.

He does not know theology.

He does not understand prophecy.

He cannot comprehend angels or righteousness or the magnitude of the moment.

But he knows something sacred is happening.

He can feel it in Mary’s soft touch…

in Joseph’s watchful care…

in the silence between them…

in the strange peace that seems to surround this small family.

And all he can do is carry them.

Quietly.

Faithfully.

Without applause.

Without mention.

Without recognition.

Yet Heaven sees.

Heaven remembers every step on that dusty road.

Because sometimes the ones who bear the greatest burdens receive no earthly credit for what they carry.

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3. The Journey of Burdens and Faithfulness

As the miles pass, the donkey feels the weight grow heavier.

Mary shifts, trying to find comfort, holding her swollen abdomen.

Joseph stops often, letting her rest, offering cool water, whispering reassurance.

Some of you know that weight—the weight of carrying a family through a season of change.

The weight of holding someone else’s pain while hiding your own.

The weight of walking a road you didn’t ask for.

Christmas adds pressure to it:

the empty chair at the table,

the burden of memory,

the ache of old wounds,

the exhaustion of carrying more than people realize.

You understand the donkey’s role more than you think.

And here lies one of the quiet miracles of Christmas:

God chose to reveal His glory through the unnoticed faithfulness of an ordinary creature.

The donkey teaches us that:

You don’t have to be in the spotlight to be in God’s story.