Small Town, Big Promise: Finding God in the Ordinary
Pastor Rasol Manouchehri Ardakani - 13 December 2025
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Welcome to Day 13.
We have officially tipped past the halfway mark of our Advent calendar. By now, the Christmas lights are up on the high street and the shops are full of people buying big, impressive gifts. We are culturally conditioned to think that "bigger is better." We are drawn to the blockbuster movies, the celebrity headlines, and the loudest voices in the room.
But today’s verse from Micah stops us in our tracks. It invites us to look away from the bright lights of the capital city and focus on a tiny, dusty village in the hills.
Micah is writing about where the Messiah will be born. If we were planning the arrival of a King, we would probably choose Rome, the centre of power. Or perhaps Athens, the centre of wisdom. At the very least, we would choose Jerusalem, the religious heart of the nation. We would want a location with prestige, infrastructure, and a bit of glory.
God, however, chooses Bethlehem.
To give you some context, Bethlehem was not a holiday destination. It was a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of place. It was small. It was insignificant. It was the sort of town that people left to go and find their fortune somewhere else. Yet, Micah predicts that this tiny village will be the launching pad for the Saviour of the World.
This tells us something profound about how God works. He loves to work in the unexpected.
He seems to delight in bypassing the proud and the powerful to set up camp among the humble and the ordinary. He doesn't need a palace to change history; He just needs a stable. He doesn't need an army; He just needs a teenage girl and a carpenter.
This is such good news for us. Most of us live lives that feel very "Bethlehem." We are not famous. We don't have massive platforms or endless resources. We go to work, we look after our families, we do the washing up, and we pay the bills. Sometimes we can feel like our lives are too small or too ordinary for God to do anything significant with them.
But the story of Advent is that God is with us in the mundane.
He is with you in the school run. He is with you in the quiet office. He is with you when you are making a cup of tea for a friend. He doesn't wait for you to become a "Jerusalem" before He uses you. He comes to you right where you are, in your own little Bethlehem.
So, if you are waiting for a big, dramatic sign from God, you might be looking in the wrong place. Try looking down. Try looking at the small things. God is often found in the places we least expect Him, turning the ordinary into something holy.
Prayer of the Day:
Lord God, thank You that Your ways are not our ways. Thank You that You chose humble Bethlehem as the birthplace of our King. We confess that we often overlook the small and the ordinary because we are looking for the spectacular. Please open our eyes to see You in the unexpected places of our lives today. Remind us that no place and no person is too small for You to use. Amen.