Ryan's Ramblings

“He withdrew to the district of Galilee.”
—Matthew 2:22, NIV

Matthew slips this line into the Christmas story right after Joseph brings Mary and the young Jesus back from Egypt. Warned in a dream not to return to Judea—because Herod’s son was now ruling there—Joseph takes his little family north, back to Galilee.

Galilee.

An ordinary place. A forgotten corner of the map. Hardly where anyone would expect God to make a point. At first glance, it reads like a travel update… a random detail tucked into the narrative.

But it’s not random at all.

That one quiet phrase reaches back eight hundred years to Isaiah 9, where God promised, “in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations… the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

And Isaiah doesn’t stop there. He describes joy rising like harvest-time, burdens shattered like Midian’s defeat (Israel’s old enemy), oppression broken, peace promised, and then—like a drumbeat reaching its crescendo—the Child:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given… Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:1-7)

A light for them, yes. But also a light for you and for me.

Isaiah’s promise was never finally about geography—it was about grace. Galilee was simply one more place in a long litany of places God chose to underline His message of mercy. Egypt, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Judea, Jordan, Galilee… each one a punctuation mark in the story of a God who keeps showing up.

And here’s the remarkable thing: every one of those places had already been spoken of—named, promised, threaded through prophecy long before Jesus arrived. God kept pointing ahead through each location, as if to say, “Watch. Look here. I’m coming for you.” What He promised then, He fulfilled in Christ, and what He fulfilled then, He still fulfills for us today.

All of it whispers the same thing:

Don’t miss My Son. Don’t miss the Light I’m sending… not to condemn you, but to save you. (John 3:16–17)

Two thousand years later, the world is still dark in places… and yet that same Light keeps breaking in. Sometimes through Scripture. Sometimes through a song or a memory. Sometimes simply through the familiar rhythm of the Christmas season returning again to say, “Behold… good news… He is here.”

Because nothing in God’s story—or in God’s character—is random. There are no accidental lines. And there are no accidental people. Everything points to a Father who refuses to give up on His children—a God who will give everything, even His own Son, to bring us home.

So as Christmas comes close, hear this holy reminder:

Don’t miss Him.
Not the Child in the manger.
Not the Light in the darkness.
Not the Savior who came for you.

Nothing God does is random.
Every line in Scripture, every promise, every whisper of this season—is all for one reason…

You.

P.S. Several friends have told me they’re gifting Nudgings this Christmas as a simple reminder that the Lord is near. To make that easier, the book is $9.99 this week on Amazon.