IT TOOK A CENSUS
“And Joseph went up from Galilee, from Nazareth, to the city of David, in order to register, along with Mary, who was with child. And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.” Luke 2:4-6
Caesar Augustus gave a decree that a census was to be taken. The law touched the most common of people in the most obscure places. It reached Joseph and Mary at a most inopportune time, tucked away in Galilee. Mary was nine months pregnant. Nonetheless, a journey to Bethlehem became necessary so that they might comply with the law and register for the census. Did they strain against such news? I would think so. Was God in it? Absolutely.
Prophetic words from ages past foretold that a Savior would arise out of Bethlehem. God used Caesar’s mouth, a census, and a difficult journey for a pregnant woman to fulfill prophetic words.
God is in the ordinary events of my day, too. When I am hit with unemployment, sickness, an unexpected move out-of-state, I can despair thinking that God has turned His back momentarily and that I am just being tossed by the wind. Little do I know that these events are like the ‘census’, steering me on to the next thing God has for me. The seemingly catastrophic event is a rudder – getting me to Bethlehem. I can’t see it at the time but I need to remember that my trust in God need not be shaken. Not then, not ever.
Oftentimes, I have cried out, “I can’t believe this happened to me!” Yet, where I am, and who I am today, have depended on those unexpected events. I have absolute confidence in You, God. In Jesus name, Amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Tuesday, 14 December 2021.
SHARE
