Life Unfolded

In the past month my family has moved from Pennsylvania to the Black Hills of South Dakota. After having lived in PA all my life, this was quite a change. But in leaving friends and the familiar, I have learned some very important lessons in trusting the Lord. I thought that high school graduation was going to be the main highlight of this year, but God had more in store. I can only pray for grace to live it to the fullest. What do you do when your life is a hotel of feelings? Read the Bible. This post contains some of my reflections from His Word.

Life Unfolded

Matthew 2

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, (verse 1)


And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. (v. 12)


And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (v. 13)


Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men... (v. 16)


And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, 'He shall be called a Nazarene'. (v. 23)"



Life is made up of days. It happened that Jesus was born "in the days of Herod the king". This was not a historic matter of chance, but a purposed unfolding of God's plan. Herod was determined to snuff out the life of Jesus. He was a political terror. (We have those today too, don't we?) But there is no chance with God, only will and grace. Jesus' parents were warned of God to change routes. God never expects us to do that which He has not commanded. God's will is not something we must uncover; it is a sure thing we must have our eyes opened to. Take and digest that life will have unplanned situations. Our expectations must always be answerable to God. Accept the "unknown way" before you must plan to take it. Joseph and Mary went another way home and Jesus' family stayed in Egypt until Herod died. W a i t i n g. Great lengths of life are lived in waiting, many times in an undesirable position. These days are not pointless, but fraught with meaning to learn and grow. Changes continued to arise, but God's plan for Jesus' youth was perfectly fulfilled by the obstacles that appeared to be blocking the way. As Christians we are called to be someone, and we become that one not by where we finish --but by how we got there.