After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,†the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.â€
That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.    Matthew 2:13-15 (NLT)
God is faithful. Powerful people felt the threat of that baby king, called Jesus. Herod ordered every male child age two and under to be killed. Every one of them! Can you imagine the military walking into your home, snatching your one-year-old son from your arms and running him through with a sword? No recourse. No justice system in your world.
Joseph and Mary have just gone through an emotionally difficult pregnancy and now God says they must leave their home and go to a foreign land in order to save the child from a crazy, paranoid king. There will be no family. There will be no familiar community. There is only the Father and them.
Are you going through a rough time? It seems much worse at Christmas, doesn’t it? Christmas should be wonderful, peaceful, joyful, and filled with laughter. You should not have to worry about needs or the basic necessities of life like food and a roof over your head. A job to help provide for these necessities should be an “of course†but for many it seems hopeless. Looking at a sweet baby in a beautiful nativity scene may not speak to you about the power of God. Look at today’s story. God took on the Roman empire and said, “Oh, no. You are not going to touch My child and blow My plan!â€
Praise the Lord!
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. Psalm 146:1-2 (NLT)
Sometimes I just have to bring a song or poem of praise to my mind and choose to speak or sing it. Say it before my faith has come into play. Sometimes my heart leads me to stand in faith when circumstances do not make sense. And sometimes it is my conscious choice that drags my heart into faith.
Choose to worship our King of kings and our LORD of lords today. Take a step of faith and God will carry you the rest of the way.
Hallelujah Chorus by George Frideric Handel (1741) Performed by people in a mall 2010
