“Mary the Mother” Part 4

Has your life been like a flat roadway in West Texas, where you can see so far out that the curvature of the earth is visible? With clear road signs warning you in plenty of time about what lies ahead? Or has it sometimes felt more like driving down a mountain with twists and turns that you must navigate with “iffy” breaks in the driving rain and around road construction, punctuated by clear and straight roads from time-to-time?

Psalm 37:5 [NLT] Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.

The latter option for me.

It was like that for Mary the mother of Jesus too. After the surprise of being told she, as an unmarried teenager, would get pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and the traveling to Bethlehem while pregnant, the joy of the baby’s birth (albeit in a barn) and surprising visits with shepherds, prophets and magi, Mary (and Joseph) experience a new hairpin turn. An angel visits Joseph with a warning and this little family makes a hasty run for their lives and out of town.

Matthew 2:13-14 [NLT] 13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother”.

Note that they left “that night”. The warning was that dire. However, I think it also tells us a little bit about Joseph. That is: when God told him to do something, he did not delay in his obedience.

Therefore, for a time in his young life, Jesus and his parents lived as strangers in a foreign land. Even after Herod died and an angel told Joseph to take Jesus and Mary home, it was not safe for them to go fully home to Judea. Instead, they made a new home in Nazareth. And it seems like they were able to settle there for the rest of Jesus’ growing up years, until He was ready for His ministry.

I know we are studying the life and lessons of Mary the mother of Jesus. However, I think it is important to give some “props” to Joseph who clearly took his role as husband and father very seriously. We see time and again that when God directed Joseph, he responded without question or quarrel. Can there be any doubt that God put Joseph and Mary together long before He announced His plan for them?

Joseph and Mary experienced this once-in-all-eternity calling together as a team. And because of Joseph’s faithfulness and love, Mary and Jesus were kept safe while the Son of God was in their care.

When life’s twists and turns come your way, I hope, like Mary, you have a good mate by your side. I cannot say that Mary choose her mate well, for it would have been highly unusual for her to have any say in the matter of choosing her mate in those days.

But I can say that God was in the choosing. For her part, this is another area in which Mary trusted the God who had called her for this pivotal role in the plan of God. Her faith once again stands as an example for us as women today.

Perhaps she and her family prayed that they would find a good match for Mary. As a woman of God, if you have children, you probably do that too. If not, I recommend that you pray for good and godly mates for your children and then cover them in prayer as they navigate God’s plan for their lives together.

I hope, if you are married, that you pray for your relationship and your mate often.

Because, when life seems like driving down a mountain with twists and turns that you must navigate with “iffy” breaks in the driving rain and around road construction, who do you trust at the wheel? I pray that you have learned to trust God to direct you and keep you safe. But it also helps to have a trustworthy and godly mate at your side.

Psalm 37:5 [NLT] Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.

Trust God first in all things, just as Psalm 37:5 tells us to do. Mary repeatedly showed that she trusted God. Just as Joseph as showed by his responsiveness to God’s direction. And because they did, they could trust each other as well. We would do well to follow their example, whatever kind of road we find ourselves traveling.

We have more to learn from Mary the mother. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey.

You can write me now in the chat, or any time at Nancy@DymanicChristianMinistries.org.