I love the story of Cinderella.

I love the kind, young woman who serves her wicked stepmother and stepsisters with grace, who cares for those around her, especially those figuratively and literally smaller than herself, and who "gets the prince" to the dismay of her family. It is not so much her chance for true love that excites me but rather her perseverance throughout the movie and the justice served in her favor at the end. When she comes running down the stairs exclaiming, "Your grace! Your grace!" so that she can try on the glass slipper made to fit only her foot, my heart fills with joy knowing that everything has been made right.

We all love a good underdog.

There is, however, that hesitation throughout the movie the first time I watched it: what if Cinderella did not win? What if her stepmother and stepsisters got away with how they treated her? What if the prince never found Cinderella? What if evil triumphed over good?

I wonder if Mary felt this way.

You know Mary, mother of Jesus, probably the most well-known underdog of all time? I wonder if Mary had any "what-if" questions when she was pregnant with Jesus.

When she gave birth to Him in a modern-day barn.

When she could not find him for three days and had to deal with the possible notion of losing the Messiah.

When she watched Him not really living up to be the King she thought the Messiah would be.

When she had to suffer through Him being humiliated, tortured, and then crucified on a cross.

I wonder if Mary questioned God's plan like we often question His plans for our own lives.

See, Mary did not have the insight we have each Christmas. We celebrate Jesus' birth knowing full-well the beginning, the middle, and the end(ish) to His story because of the Bible. When Good Friday comes around, we celebrate knowing that three days after Jesus was crucified, He rose again with the promised hope of redemption for all who believe in Him. We know the great ending. Mary did not. The disciples did not. No one knew, even though Jesus foretold His death and His resurrection.

Even when Jesus promises hope, we have a hard time believing Him.

Mary was a human; she was not a supernatural being or an angel. She was a teenager, most likely younger than myself when she gave birth to Jesus. All she knew in that moment was that Jesus would be the Savior to her people. All she could do was trust in God's promise.

We have countless examples of God's faithfulness throughout the Bible. We know that He provides, and we know that He wins in the end. We know the ending of this movie, so why do we have so little faith in God's script? We have the greatest example of Romans 8:28 in Jesus Christ: "For we know all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."

Jesus looked to God the Father and completed His purpose as God the Son, and we know that everything worked out in the end. That does not mean that everything is fine and dandy at the beginning or in the middle- especially the middle. We do know, however, that when we listen and obey God, no matter how scary that may seem, we know that He will be with us every step of the way.

He never left Mary.

He never left the disciples.

He never left Paul.

He will never leave us.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, we can rejoice knowing that we have the full story. We know that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that His birth, death, and resurrection satisfied years of prophecies. We know that He is coming again and that, no matter our trials today, we have hope in tomorrow's victory through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Prince of Peace. The King of Kings. Emmanuel.

He is with us.