12 Days of God's Character: The Christmas Storyናሙና

Day 11: God, Our Provider

Do you ever feel scared of good things because you’re afraid that the Enemy will immediately take them away? Do you ever feel nervous when God has spoken something over your life because you know it will mean more spiritual warfare? Do you ever wonder if the Lord will really go before you in the darkest valleys, or if that was just an empty promise?

As much as we hate to admit it, the truth is, each of us has probably felt some variation of these things over the course of our lives. Walking with Jesus isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s hard, dangerous, and sometimes downright exhausting.

And yet, the Lord proves to us over and over again that He is a God that protects His people. We see in Matthew 2, that King Herod was incredibly jealous of baby Jesus and wanted to kill Him. Take a moment to close your eyes (if you can safely do that) and imagine how it might have felt to be Mary & Joseph at this time. You had just given birth to a baby in a manger because all of the inns were full. And that’s not even to mention the public shame that you endured of seemingly having a baby out of wedlock. And then, you find out that the king is trying to kill your child. I’d imagine that both Mary and Joseph were full of fear.

And yet, they walked in obedience. They didn’t try to fight back against King Herod. They didn’t feel so afraid of the Enemy that they simply gave up. Instead, they trusted in the provision of God through a dream and escaped to Egypt.

Let’s go back to the original questions that we asked you.

Have you ever felt scared of good things because you’re afraid that the Enemy will immediately take them away? Imagine if you responded in prayer for the Lord to bring the Enemy to its knees. Have you ever felt nervous when God has spoken something over your life because you know it will mean more spiritual warfare? Imagine if you responded by continuing to speak that truth over your life - regardless of the lies of the Enemy. Have you ever wondered if the Lord will really go before you in the darkest valleys, or if that was just an empty promise? Oh my friend, He will carry you through the darkest valleys if you ask him.

Mary and Joseph probably didn’t dream of fleeing to Egypt. They probably didn’t see how the Lord was really working things out for the good of baby Jesus. But nonetheless, they put their trust in His provision - even when they couldn’t see the ending.

May we do the same today. May we take our burdens and worries and fears to the foot of the cross and allow God to do His very best work. He will provide for you - just as He did for them, even if it doesn’t look like how you thought it might. Have faith, Child. He is our Provider.