“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy Him.’ 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 I called my Son.’” – Matthew 2:13-15


Have you ever been on a long road trip and had to take a detour? Or have your maps ever taken you on the longest possible route to avoid some construction on the roads? It’s not ideal. It can be frustrating. It can feel like a waste of time. Sure, you eventually got to your destination, but it took SO much longer than it should have. Sometimes, there’s nothing worse than having to take the long way around.


Read Matthew 2:13-15. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are still in Bethlehem when an angel tells Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt because King Herod wants to kill Jesus. Herod was the king of Judea, and when he heard from the wise men that the “King of the Jews” had been born, he felt that his throne was threatened and wanted to eliminate that threat. So Joseph, Mary, and Jesus have to take a massive detour – all the way to another country. Talk about taking the long way around!


Here's the thing about detours, though. While they are super inconvenient, they do serve a purpose. It’s to protect us from something that would otherwise cause us harm. Sometimes, it’s something going on behind the scenes that we aren’t even aware of. Joseph knew the reason for the detour in his case, but it’s not the same for us a lot of the time. We just have to trust that God is always at work, even if we can’t see it. There will probably be some inconveniences on your path this Christmas season. Instead of letting them frustrate you, let them be an opportunity to increase your faith and believe that God is doing something awesome.



QUESTIONS:


What makes it hard for you to be thankful for inconveniences?


Looking back, how have you seen God work behind the scenes in your life?