One Delivery Gone Wrong, Another Perfectly Right
A Christmas Reflection
‘Tis the season for missing or misdelivered packages.
Two packages for someone else landed on my front stoop last week on the same day my own boxes took an extended joyride in the package delivery truck. They showed up for real on the same day the replacement order arrived.
But there I was with two boxes that didn’t belong to me. And there I would still be if I hadn’t taken matters into my own hands. I did call the delivery company with the purple-and-orange-logo, who said they would notify me by text when they will retrieve those misdelivered packages.
But then, silence.
Not a word in five days.
FedUp
The two addresses were on a rural road about twenty minutes from my house. Packages shipped via this company have the recipient’s phone number on the label. So I called both.
One picked up and said he would like to retrieve his box and would take his neighbor’s box too.
And this is how I became a customer service representative and logistics coordinator for a nationwide delivery company.
Just for a day.
Not Misdelivered
All kidding aside, we’re at the pinnacle of the season where deliveries are at the forefront of our minds. Will the gift arrive in time? When will I wrap all these packages? Where did that box end up?
While human delivery systems fail, there is one “delivery” that was perfectly planned.
At first glance, Jesus’s birth seemed chaotic and unplanned: a young couple traveling during pregnancy, no place to stay, and animal quarters as the delivery room. But every detail of that first Christmas was divinely orchestrated.
Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem fulfilled the 700-year-old prophecy of Micah: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf” (Micah 5:2). They were right where God intended them to be, even if it didn’t feel that way at the time.
God also ensured the arrival of witnesses to this miraculous moment. Angels proclaimed the good news to shepherds, and a star led wise men from distant lands, signaling that Jesus came not just for Israel but for the whole world.
Perfect Timing
Every detail—the location, the timing, and the visitors—was intentional. Jesus came to the right place at the right time to bring hope to the world. God’s plans are never delayed, misplaced, or misdelivered. His timing is always perfect, and his promises are always fulfilled.
This Christmas, amid the chaos of misplaced packages and delivery frustrations, let’s celebrate the one “delivery” that got everything right.