How do I react when things do not go as I plan…
Sometimes, I find myself afraid…
But… how should I react?
Fear? NOT!
I wonder how he must have felt. Did he have plans for their first years of marriage? When he found out his bride-to-be was pregnant, did he feel like the air had been knocked from his lungs?
In a second, his life was forever changed. Yet, in Matthew 1:20, an angel appeared in Joseph’s dream telling him to “… fear not…” (KJV).
But then, how must she have felt… to find out she is pregnant… and with the Son of God? Was there a moment of anxiety… a human thought of what others would think… of how she could possibly explain… would anyone believe her?
In a second, her life was forever changed. Yet, in Luke 1:30, the angel told Mary to “…Fear not…” (KJV).
And then, as this man and woman stepped into these roles that God had prepared them for, I wonder what it was like in that stable that night when they held their baby… and looked at the face of Jesus for the first time. Did they realize, at that second, our lives would be forever changed? On that night, the angel said to the shepherds, “… Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10 KJV).
As we go through life, we only see those life-changing moments… those detours that were not part of our plan, but God sees eternity and the pieces of His plan falling into place… and He says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee…” (Isaiah 41:10 KJV).
