Nothing was going well. The scandal of a pregnant fiancée. A government census. A long arduous trip by donkey. Not at all what Joseph planned or expected. Totally bad timing. No reservations. Literally, no room at the inn. No welcome mat from family. And then, the first labor pains. Oh no, not now. What in the world can I do?
He knew exactly what to do. He prayed. Joseph was a man of few words, but of profound prayers not recorded in scripture. Joseph just prayed. And he listened. He had trusted God in the past. He knew he could follow God, even in the now.
There are days when we too can’t do anything but put one foot ahead of the other. Sometimes that is all we can do. Put on our shoes and tie them, ready for what we do know, ready for where God leads us, not even in anticipation, but in sheer faithfulness. “O LORD, show me how to navigate this.”
There was no room in the inn, but they were not abandoned there. God does not just break through and enter in a situation. He walks us there. He goes ahead. No room in the inn was not a mistake, or interruption, nor a dead end, but just what had to unfold first for the next to take root.
And this would be a good time not to panic, but to pray. Always leaving room for the sovereignty of God. And in prayer, recognizing His reassuring Presence.
Joseph did not waste his words or energies over “why.” But he prayed to the LORD about what to do and how to do it. And I suppose, as he prayed, he saw through the crowds, way back between the buildings, off the main thoroughfare, a stable. “There?” he asked God. “Right there,” God nodded. It was not at all about what Joseph planned, but his sudden realization, “there You are.”
Is prayer our first response or last resort? Worry just blocks out any available light. Anxiety locks all the doors. But in praying, God unfolds even that which is totally unexpected.
No time to spare or despair. Joseph delivered the baby by himself in a stable full of animals on a cold night. “This is not going to end well,” I surmise he thought. That was obvious.
But then again, maybe not. God’s obvious is not always so obvious on the surface. All these glitches, dead ends, people’s mistakes or obstinacy, “not random at all,” came a thought in the middle of Joseph’s prayers.
God works in unexpected ways and in the most unlikely places, as detailed in prophecies from the beginning of time, the scarlet thread that runs through scripture.
God chose Joseph for a reason. Joseph prayed. Joseph listened. Not to hear a Hallmark positive vibe, “It’s going to be ok.” But God continually whispering, “Don’t miss this. Trust Me in this. Even in what comes next.”
That kind of trust can only be constructed by learning step by step, knowing those odd-shaped pieces, sometimes with jagged edges, don’t just fall in place, but are specifically designed to fit together. Prayer builds that trust in layers. With no pieces left over.
There is God’s beauty in the wake of the storm. And amazement in the wake of every prayer.
When we can’t see the outcome or even the next little step, God is still in it. Even when that special baby was born in the lowliest of conditions divinely appointed, Jesus was in the safest place on earth. Even when a gaggle of excited, smelly shepherds crowded in to see what is going on. And then, wise men from the East showing up, bearing gifts. Even then, I suspect, Joseph knew when times are hard and strange, God is doing something really powerful.
Joseph would do anything for this baby. Even then, not realizing that this child would do everything for us. That is why Jesus came.
And then, when things appeared to calm down a bit, Joseph had a strange dream about an angel warning him to get up and go. He woke up from the dream, still groggy in the middle of the night, and remembered the single word, “Flee!” And as his habit, Joseph knew God didn’t have to explain Himself. Joseph knew to trust God. When God says, “Go.” He means now. That kind of sheer trust that night was a matter of life and death.
As trusting God always is.
“And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Matthew 2. 14
Joseph may or may not have been familiar with that prophecy, but he staked his life on awareness of God’s Presence. “I am with you.” That is all Joseph needed to know.
Or us. Even in the depths of the night, or despair, or praying our way to Egypt in the dark.
When we pray, God invites us into what He is already doing. We get to be a part of the story and the manifestation of His glory.
There is something different here. And that would be Jesus.
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