Prepare Him Room - Certain Hope
Joseph had plans. He was going to make Mary his wife and they would have a life like those around him. Yes, he was of the line of David, but so many others were as well. He surely had no idea how that detail would play into his future.
And then he found out his anticipated bride was pregnant. In kindness he prepared to remove himself from her quietly, but before he could, an angel came to him in a dream and stopped him. The baby Mary carried was from the Holy Spirit. This was the sign Isaiah told us would come. Imagine the intimacy both Joseph and Mary felt when God revealed that long awaited sign to them personally. Oh, the hope that must have swelled in their hearts!
And now that God-given hope would empower Joseph through the coming hurdles. With purposeful obedience amidst the hushed voices around him and the questions within him, he proceeded. He journeyed to Bethlehem with Mary, full term, and found there was no place to stay in the crowded city. Another hurdle. But God, his God, the One in whom he had placed his hope, provided a place for them. It was there that baby Jesus came into this world, just as it had been prophesied.
We make plans and many times something unexpected happens. Then what? How do we prepare for those times? The answer is to trust God's plan and keep our hope in Him. Notice that God Himself did the preparing for Joseph. It was God who put Joseph in the line of David and got he and Mary to Bethlehem and all the details in between. Joseph’s plans changed but God’s plans for him never did. Joseph placed his hope in the One who could. It is He who works in us too. Our hope is in Him. He will not disappoint.
The hope in us - Jesus Christ
Ask God to help you remove any "no vacancy" signs in your life and help you experience the hope of Christ Jesus today.
(Luke 2:1-7, Matthew 1:20b-21, 23, Isaiah 7:14, Philippians 2:13)
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