Finding Comfort in God’s Providence
“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.’ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’ But when Herod died, behold, and angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.’ And he rose and too the child and His mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that He would be called a Nazarene,” (Matthew 2:13-23).
It has been said before that God works in mysterious ways. One common theme throughout scripture is that God always prevails. While there are times such as the Israelites being enslaved in Egypt, Lot being surrounded by sin, or Jesus being killed while innocent may appear at first glance as God’s people losing, upon further examination, God always prevails.
The providence of God is something that many people overlook. The overall power of God is something that is often forgotten in the world today. We can see that this is the case because of the many times that we are reminded to cast all of our worries onto God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds His listeners to not worry about their lives because God will provide. Jesus uses the examples of the birds of the air and how God provides for them, and will provide for us much more.
I believe one of the greatest examples of the providence of God comes almost as soon as you turn your page from the Old Testament book of Malachi to the New Testament book of Matthew. At the end of Matthew chapter one, we read of one of the greatest miracles the world has ever seen. The birth of Jesus Christ. Despite this being the greatest occurrence the world had seen since the days of creation, there was one man who was not too fond of the birth of such a miraculous child. King Herod sought to have this child killed.
In an attempt to kill Jesus, king Herod ordered that all male children two years old or under be killed. However, an angel of the Lord had appeared to Joseph and warned him to take his family and flee to Egypt because of a great danger against the young child. That very night Joseph took his family and fled to Egypt until the death of Herod. After the death of Herod, Joseph was bringing his family back when he was warned a second time about the new king. As a result, Joseph took his family to the district of Galilee.
There was a great threat against Jesus and His family, but the providence of God is shown in this story. Just like God provided for Jesus physically, the providence of God is still present in our lives today.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28).
Find Comfort in the Providence of God This Week!
