Woven Into God’s Story

Verse: Matthew 2:13-15
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.”

Devotion
Looking at this and the verses that come before, I marvel at the way God is orchestrating everything. He is moving pieces like a chessboard, setting everything up through a time that seems utterly chaotic. He is warning people in dreams, fulfilling prophecies, protecting people. Moving mountains. We are given a glimpse into the backstage of the play in which we find ourselves. We are not the audience, and yet, we often place ourselves there.

But look, here we see the great director (forgive me), giving cues, reading lines, reminding, making a scene ready and placing the props so that the actors can find them when they are needed. But this is no play. There is not supposed to be an audience. We are invited into this. We are all supposed to be a part of this, and every time we pull back and plop ourselves into the seats and watch, the Lord is saying “Come, be in this, do this with me! I’ll make the way for you!”

I know that this story is about the birth of Jesus. I know that the story is epic and there is no more important character. But the story has not come to an end. And Jesus is still moving. He has asked us to be his hands and his feet. So how could we possibly believe that God is not still setting things up and going before us? Though the coming years are unknown, and we don’t get to read ahead, we have an amazing history to look back on, where our God has proven his trustworthiness. Over and over.

Prayer
Thank you for weaving us into your story, and giving us a unique part to play. We ask for faith to jump in! Amen.

Author: Emily Costa