You know what it feels like when you are tired, exhausted and ready to go home, but someone asks you at the last minute to do them a favor? Or a child asks you to pick up something from the store on the way home? You really just want to go home, but you stop by the store anyway, or you do that friend a favor because you care about them. Sometimes, God asks us to remain in a place of waiting and suffering because he has work to do there. We really just want to leave, move on from this hard place and on to brighter days, but God is asking us to shelter in place.
Remember: 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.” - Matthew 2:13-15
I wonder if Mary and Joseph felt the same way. They had already made a very stressful journey including a birth among animals with lots of strangers visiting. I’m sure all they wanted to do was go home as a new little family. But God had other plans that were not only part of their protection, but also part of the fulfillment of his word through the prophet Hosea. God was taking Mary and Joseph back to the place of slavery for their people. The last place someone would search for “The King of the Jews.”
Perhaps the hardest part was there was no end in sight. An angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream to “flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you.” Until I tell you. Not a week or a month or even a year, they had no idea how long they would stay in Egypt. How interesting that they (along with Jesus) would experience the same waiting that Israel felt when they were slaves in Egypt for 430 years?
Reflect
Sometimes we can feel like our season of waiting will last over 400 years! We would love nothing more than to say goodbye to this season, to go home. But sometimes God has us remain in a season of waiting to do something in our hearts and in other people’s hearts. He is moving circumstances and time, sometimes even protecting us during our season of exile. Mary, Joseph and Jesus remained in Egypt for approximately two years. While they sheltered in place, they didn’t stop living,
Today, if you are feeling like you are ready to be done with this season; I pray that you would trust that God is working in the waiting. Sometimes he asks us to remain — to shelter in place — so that he can prepare things for our relief. See your situation as a God-ordained place of shelter instead of a place of slavery. Trust his plan. Trust his timing. Don’t let this season keep you from living in the exile, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3)
Respond
Carry this breath prayer in your heart today:
Breathe In:
God, you ordained this place of shelter
Breathe Out:
Help me cultivate faithfulness here.
The Journey
This journey will take us through December 25th. My hope is that it would bring you encouragement in whatever waiting room you find yourself in during this Advent season. Each daily podcast will be short and sweet, leaving you with something to carry in your heart as you wait. You can also subscribe to my newsletter here.
