The journey of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem probably took 5 or more days. Imagine what those five days were like.
Day Three--It only gets harder.
Joseph wasn't sure they were going to make it. Mary was a strong and determined young woman, but she was only human. Between the stress of her pregnancy, the stress of the travel, and the stress of God's message to them, he didn't know how she continued on. He was barely able to keep himself going, and he wasn't carrying the fate of the world in his womb!
He knew Mary believed. Even though she spoke of it infrequently, they had spoken of it. It. The message of Gabriel. His words of unbelievable weight. You have found favor with
God . . . You will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus . . . The Lord God will give him the throne of
David . . . His kingdom will never end . . . So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God . . . Nothing is impossible with God.
Nothing is impossible with God. Did that include the Messiah being born to a humble carpenter and his wife who faced the shame of being pregnant before being married? Did that include Rome calling for a census causing that carpenter to take his wife, heavy with child, to the little town of Bethlehem? Did that include finally throwing the yoke of Rome from the neck of God's people?
Joseph was a man of faith, but also a man of action. He worked with his hands, his back, his will. Gifts given to him by God, but given to him to use. Faith was a tool he found more difficult to wield. Faith was less precise than his square or plumb line, less telling than his rule, and certainly slower to respond than when he struck his chisel with his hammer.
Unlike his other tools, Joseph didn't, couldn't know what the result of using faith would be. God's plan was a mystery. Faithful men often found their faith working in ways they would have never imagined, nor chosen. Like Noah. Or Joseph. Samson. David. Faith wasn't easy. Like the tools of a carpenter, the better one got at using faith, the harder the jobs became.
This particular exercise of faith was no exception. Joseph had finally trusted God with the pregnancy of his wife. He trusted God to bless their marriage. He trusted God in taking this trip to Bethlehem to register with Rome. He trusted God would provide.
But the trip was not going to get easier, and Mary wasn't going to get any stronger. She was barely keeping up now, and the trip was only going to become more rigorous. As they approached Jerusalem, the terrain became steeper, more difficult. Joseph had made the trip many times. He knew how hard it could be, especially this time of the year with the rain and the cold.
Nothing is impossible with God. Just how far did that go? If a man believed that, what could he do? Elijah called down fire from heaven. Moses lead God's people through the parted sea. But could God do this? Could the child Mary carried truly be what Gabriel said. Could it really be like this?
Joseph wasn't sure they would ever know. He'd barely slept in three nights, and knew Mary had slept little more. He wasn't sure how they could make the rest of the trip. And if indeed Mary's time came when they arrived, how could she possibly go through the pains of labor as tired and worn out as she was?
No, it certainly wasn't going to get easier any time soon. Joseph had trusted God this far, and he knew he had no choice but continue to have faith. He was in too deep, had gone to far to turn back now. God was always faithful. God kept His promises. God was good. All the time.
Nothing was impossible with God.
That didn't mean God's way was always easy.
To be continued . . .
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