“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 (ESV)

As we have seen, when we follow God, it’s hard to say where we might end up. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had an incredible opportunity to live out this biblical truth. The angel warned them about the coming bloodletting of Herod, which we read yesterday. We’re jumping backward in the story to see what happened just before Herod unleashed his fury on the tiny Bethlehem boys.

God the Father had sent an angel to Joseph, warning him that Herod wished to “destroy” Jesus. Righteous Joseph reacted like the strong and godly man God called him to be. He immediately whisked his family away to safety. His action fulfilled an ancient prophecy. God constantly protected and shepherded Jesus and His family each step of the way.

The plan of God often takes us to unexpected places. In this case, the Son of God went into a pagan land, the nation of Egypt. Israel had once lived there under the reign of Pharaoh, and the Israelites were oppressed and lowly. But God brought His covenant people out of Egypt, just as God would bring His divine Son out of Egypt.

Often, we won’t know what God is doing in our lives, but we can have confidence in the truth that He is always at work for our good. The Christmas story reminds us of our need to trust God in all seasons and situations—those that are understandable as well as the bewildering ones. Our heavenly Father is always at work, doing much greater things than we can know. That was not only true for Jesus but is also true for us. God is saving all His people and will bring us safely out of our own “Egypt” and into the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Prayer: Father, we confess that we struggle when our lives do not go as we plan. Because of this, our hearts sometimes grow cold toward You. In light of the Christmas story, we ask that You would strengthen our trust in You. We see how You worked in the lives of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to protect them; we know that their path was challenging, but You were blessing them all the way. Please help us to walk by faith as they did, and to give thanks to You for all the good You are working in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.