“You are not alone.” These are some of the most beautiful words of life. To know that someone is with us and understands our situation makes all the difference.
We all need other people. God made us that way.
Think about the church. We are a one another people. We need each other–both to help and be helped. In the church we are to “love one another,” “pray for one another,” and “encourage one another.” Something powerful, wonderful, and necessary occurs as we relate to other people as brothers and sisters.
We truly want to know we are not alone.
That is the message of Christmas. God broke into our broken world with the gift of His own presence. In Scripture, He assures us that He will never leave or forsake us, that He will be with us always.
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As God reassured Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25), he reminded Joseph that God knew what He was doing and that Joseph wouldn’t be alone in his journey through life. Matthew proclaimed that all this took place to fulfill the words of Isaiah the prophet: “The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means “God with us.”
Immanuel means God is with us in every situation and that you can count on Him.
Joseph’s life was a model of “God with us.”
God communicated with Joseph and led him through the difficulties of raising the very Son of God.
Notice that God spoke to Joseph through an angel in a dream. God reassured Joseph that what happened to Mary had come through God’s own plan. He should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. She had not been unfaithful–in fact she had been completely faithful to God.
Later, God warned Joseph to leave immediately for Egypt to protect the life of the child. When the danger dissipated, God told Joseph to return to Israel.
All through the journey, God led and Joseph followed.
Joseph was not alone–and neither are you. Those who trust Christ have Him as our constant companion and guide through life.
One Response
Monday my wife and I stopped at a Raising Cane’s in Laplace as we drove in from Shreveport for her to do a volunteer Christmas Party for Will Smith and his wife. A young fellow was sitting alone in the corner when we sat down to eat. She suddenly got up and said to him, “Here, get yourself something to eat.” I thought to myself, “Thank you Lord for her, being my wife.” I was reminded. I am not alone. And, so was that young teenager as he sat down with his meal. I wonder what church the Magi attended? I wonder how the lives of all the families of all the men who carried out King Herod’s orders went, after taking the lives of innocent children, just following orders? Matthew 2:16. Was it that none of those fathers and mothers knew God to have had their sons murdered, to fulfill Jeremiah 31:15? Shall we remind ourselves to focus more on Jeremiah 31:17 – “And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.”
In Him there is Hope. From within His, His Hope Shines. A Light in the darkness which leads to Life. A Life not alone. Romans 12:4&5.
Blessings