One of the strangest to
me was the dust storm that occurred early in our stay in Oklahoma. As the summer wind picked up, the blue sky
and just about everything else on the ground rapidly turned brown. It was almost as if someone had drawn the old
fashion brown pull blinds in my Paternal Grandmother’s home in the middle of
the day! The only object you could
discern in the sky was the dirty orange glow of the sun.
Then there was the ice
storm during our second winter there. It
was an indescribable scene as everything from the trees, the mailboxes and the
roads were coated with a fairly thick layer of ice. Our immediate neighborhood was very new with
many homes still in various stages of construction, so there were no mature
trees anywhere to be seen… until you drove out of the development. Then you were greeted with another eerie
sight as many of the branches on the stately old trees that lined the country
road had simply cracked and broken off from the weight of the ice. This process continued and even grew worse for
the next few days as the cold weather persisted. It actually looked to me as if the area had
been the victim of an aerial bombing raid!
It literally took the city years to clean up all the debris. Then there were the tornado warnings and the
sounding of the sirens mounted on the light poles throughout the area.
All of these thoughts of
adverse weather made me to consider the various weather induced conditions that
Mary and Joseph must have faced as they traveled from their home town to the
city of Bethlehem in order to comply with the governor’s census edict. No one really knows what things they faced,
but many stories and songs have been written telling of their possible hardships. Never-the-less, it is not difficult for one
to imagine how uncomfortable Mary must have been riding on the back of a donkey
as they traversed the rough, uneven roadways.
Joseph also must have been quite miserable and anxious as he tried his
best to make the trip as smooth as possible for his pregnant fiancée.
I can easily sympathize
with Joseph as he hovered about Mary in a protective mode, desperately trying
to keep one step ahead of the adversities they faced. It is a similar mode that I live in right now
with my wife and her physical condition, as I attempt to stay constantly
vigilant in watching over her every move so that she does not run into harm’s
way.
In the end, Mary and
Joseph were successful in their journey and the story had a happy ending, one
whose benefits that we all reap today!
But think for a moment, what would have happened if they gave up and
turned back to the warmth and security of their homes in Nazareth? What if Joseph got to the end of his rope
when they were told that there was no room in the inn, blew his stack, turned
up his nose to the governor and headed the donkey back in the direction from
which they had just come?
If they had deviated
from the plan in any way, shape or form, then the ancient prophecies would not
have been fulfilled, Jesus’ job would not have been completed and God would
have had to call for an emergency meeting of the counsel of the Trinity and the
angelic hosts to come up with a “Plan B!” No! Thank
God that Mary and Joseph stood strong under all the pressures and saw their
task through to the glorious climax as the army of angelic hosts appeared in
the field to the shepherds and sang “Glory
to God in the highest!” (Luke 2:14 KJV)
The same could be said
for the journeys that each of us are called to walk in our daily lives. We face the same decisions that Mary and
Joseph did. The circumstances may be
totally different, but the question to push on through the hard times or to
turn tail and run are the same! Will we
choose to persevere and win the prize that God has for us, or fall short and
quit before the victory?
Philippians 4:6-7
encourages us to “Never worry about
anything. But in every situation let God
know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God’s peace, which goes (far) beyond
anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ
Jesus.” (God’s Word ©) While I investigated some of the original
meanings and intents of the words used in this verse, I came across a couple of
interesting statements. Both came from
Thayer’s Greek Definitions of the word “guard.” One thought likened the peace that we can
experience as we obey this verse as being “protected
by a military guard to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of
a besieged city from flight.” There
are many lessons that you can take from this added understanding, but the one
that stood out to me was the thought of God’s peace helping you to stay strong
and protected within the walls of His love and care until the attack is
over. The idea of one fleeing from a
besieged city gave me the picture of the individual becoming an easy target to
be picked off as soon as he or she left the protection of the city walls.
The other statement was
where Thayer says that metaphorically speaking. God’s peace is on guard “to
keep one under the control of the Word that, no matter what is going on, we
stay within the reaches and authority of His power!" That’s definitely where Mary and Joseph were,
and it is also the best place for you and me!
So don’t allow the hustle and bustle of the busyness of the Holiday
Season get you down this year. Stay in
His peace, under the protection of His Word and you’ll come through with flying
colors! Have a great day! Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking
yourself… “What am I expecting today?”
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