“Listen up, angels! I have some assignments,” said a commanding voice.

“On such and such a day a man named Zechariah will be in Jerusalem, in the temple, in the holy place, at the altar of incense, burning incense. The angel Gabriel is to appear to him there and tell him that his aged wife will bear him a son.

“Six months later, a young lady named Mary will be in the region of Galilee, in the village of Nazareth, and in her home. The angel Gabriel is to go inside and tell her she will bear the Messiah.

“Three months after that, also in Nazareth, during the night, a young man named Joseph will be sleeping fitfully. He’ll be troubled because he has just learned that his fiancée is pregnant with a child that isn’t his. An angel must appear to him and assure him the Child is conceived by the Holy Spirit and tell him what to do next.

“Six months later, in the region of Bethlehem, some shepherds will be staying out in the fields at night watching over their sheep. An angel is to appear to them and tell them the Messiah has just been born, and that they can find the Baby in Bethlehem, and how they can be sure they have found the right Baby. An immense army of angels is then to join with that angel and declare God’s glory and His peace and favor toward humanity.

“Everybody got that? Ok, great! Let’s do this!”

Well, I don’t think it happened quite like that, but my point is that each angel found their assigned person exactly where they were supposed to be and right on time.

And we’re not surprised at that since it was God who was directing things, and since He would obviously know exactly where Zechariah/Mary/Joseph/the shepherds would be and what they would be doing and thinking and feeling and so on.

But here’s a possible disconnect in my thinking. Do I have the same assurance that He is likewise intimately aware of and directing the events of my life? Well, probably not, if I’m honest. I imagine myself and the details of my life as less of a concern to Him than those of Zechariah/Mary/Joseph/the shepherds.

Yet it seems one of the things God wants us to draw from these events is that He knows exactly where each of us will be at any given moment (and what we will be thinking and feeling) and that He has prepared and directed the angels to be involved, if necessary, to make sure His peace and favor come to each of us.

But in my doubt I borrow Zechariah’s question, “How shall I know this for certain?”

Here’s how: “Good news of great joy for all people,” said the angel. God knew some of us would question whether we were really included. And He sent that word to shepherds, of all people—the bottom-rungers of society in that day.

Glory to God in the highest! He wrote me into His script!