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. This law affected 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 and I'm sure the thought of such a trip was overwhelming. Nonetheless, this 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 feel certain they did. Was God in it? Absolutely. Hindsight proves it. 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 woman at full-term pregnancy 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. I can fear that I'm worth little, just something to be tossed around like a rag doll. 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 really like 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
Originally published Monday, 18 December 2023.
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