The Journey

Jan 3, 2023

"Wake up and take Mary and the baby to Egypt and stay there until I tell you further. Herod is looking for your child and wants to kill it!"

- An Angel, Matthew 2:13

"Life is difficult. Once we truly accept this, we should no longer be surprised when

life IS difficult."

- M.Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

So… It's the week after Christmas. How are you doing?

A Sunday school teacher asked her class of toddlers to draw a picture of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus on their flight to Egypt. As she walked by Jonny she noticed he had drawn a picture of an airplane with 4 people in it. "What is this?" she asked. Jonny said, "Well this is Joseph and Mary and the little baby is Jesus… and the guy up front is Pontius the pilot flying them to Egypt." (Smile) I love that! And that's just about how far off-target our expectations can be at Christmas.

Every year, we knock ourselves out trying to make it the "perfect" Christmas.

Parents expect a Hallmark gathering with everyone home, happy and healthy, around a beautifully decorated table with Johnny Mathis singing "O Holy Night" in the background. And the kids expect every gift they circled in the Macy's catalog to be lying under that tree. We expect bad news to take a hike, don't we? That the in-laws and out-laws will actually like each other this year… that the cancer will slip into remission… that work will pick up… that my boyfriend won't break my heart… that my marriage will turn around and my bonus will come through… that disappointment will give me a break… at least during Christmas.

But have you noticed: Christmas expectations are rarely met… but… God's promises always are!

The promise at Christmas was not "Joy to the World"... I got everything I wanted! The promise was "Joy to the World"... The LORD has come!" And this is the promise we need to take into this New Year! It was only a few days after Christmas, when King Herod heard the prophecy that God had come to earth as The Newborn Messiah, a Savior. Threatened by the news of a new King, he sent out soldiers to find the baby and kill Him. So much for "Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright."

Chaos shattered the calm, and darkness shrouded the light, as Joseph and Mary took their baby and fled into the night on a dangerous journey to Egypt.

Without GPS, iPhones or Google maps, they traveled at least five days across northern Sinai on roads where bandits often lay in wait to rob and kill. You would expect an easier, less difficult, welcome for God into the world He created, wouldn't you? Although the route taken by Joseph is not recorded in Scripture, ancient Egyptian (Coptic) Christians have identified 25 places where the Holy family was refreshed, restored, renewed, resourced and protected… 25! In Wadi Natrum near the Nile Delta, an ancient fresco is carved into the wall of a cave showing Mary nursing the infant Jesus. Upstream at Al Adaweya old clay pots dating from the 5th century show people holding out gifts and bowing down and worshiping a baby cradled in the arms of Mary on a donkey, with Joseph standing beside them.

25 places where they were cared for and helped on their journey!

The point? When Joseph and Mary were told That God had chosen them to bring His Son, the long awaited Savior, into the world… don't you think they expected that things would now be way easier… way better? The truth is… things were as difficult as they ever were. it's just that, now, they had God With Them supernaturally providing everything and everyone they needed to complete their journey. And so do you!