"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man, and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife...." Matthew 1:18-20a NIV
"Then
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star
had appeared.....And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they
returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his
mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to
search for the child and kill him." Matthew 2:7, 12-13 NIV
When I am on guard duty at our local jail I often play
the word game Scrabble with myself. As we do not have access to the internet, a
friend gifted me with a travel size game and I sit and play for hours with "me"
and "myself".
The other morning in the wee hours I was engrossed in
a very challenging game. The letters I was drawing from the bag were difficult.
The words I was able to form were short and went in directions I didn't really
want to go. Time and time again I would start to come to the conclusion that I
was at an impasse and then something would change. The next letters I drew at
random from the bag would work out well and suddenly another part of the board
was wide open. In the end it was one of my highest scoring games ever and I was
able to use all the letters without penalty.
Sometimes in life, much like my Scrabble game, we may
find ourselves from time to time at what appears to be an impasse just as
Joseph, Mary and the Magi did so long ago. Things we have counted on have fallen
through. Life is not taking us in the direction we want to go. We are threatened
and don't know where to turn, and then something changes, and suddenly we see
the answer, we know what to do, a whole new avenue of life opens up before us.
Why, because we are not in this life alone. God, Emmanuel is with us and he can
be trusted to guide and direct us, just as he did Mary and Joseph and the Magi
if we are willing to look to him in faith and wait for his answers to our
dilemma.
In the game of Scrabble you draw letters randomly from
a bag, to keep the game going, but in life nothing is random. God sees and knows
and acts according to what is best for each and every one of us from day one
until that final day when we meet him face to face.
Today life may seem impossible. We may be facing an
impasse. We may not know what to do or even how to go on. It may in fact be the
worse Christmas season we have ever had to face. If so, let us wait, let us
trust, let us by faith know that something will change, for we are not alone.
God is with us and where God is hope always resides, waiting in expectation for
something to change!
Prayer: Father God how we thank you that we are not in
this world alone, you are with us and with you also is hope. Bless us this
Christmas time and grant us the faith necessary for whatever situations we may
be facing. Thank you that you are always one move ahead of us in this life,
planning for our well being and goodness. Thank you that when we face an impasse
with you at our side suddenly things can change for the better. In Christ's name
we pray and praise. Amen
Lynne Phipps
Atlin, BC
lynnephipps@hotmail.com
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.