Now What?

“After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)

It’s over – all the planning, the shopping, the cooking. It seemed like Christmas was coming way too fast and now it’s in the rear view mirror. The tree is still up, but it’s empty underneath it. The decorations are still up but rather in anticipation now they are a reminder of all the memories created this year.

There are a ton of scriptures and stories leading up to Christmas and the birth of Christ, but there aren’t many that seem to focus on the season after. What was it like for Mary & Joseph after? They were adjusting to a different family dynamic. They were simply a young couple adjusting to the birth of their first child, and I would assume just trying to understand what all that had happened meant. Each of them had been told separately by an angel of the Lord who their child was and would be. Then, sometime after their Son was born shepherds came to worship their child.

Think about that – strangers show up to worship your newborn. Then sometime after that wise men came with gifts. Expensive gifts.

These kinds of visits from strangers just didn’t happen to most people, so they must have been just trying to put it all together.

But there is another part to the Christmas story that isn’t talked about much.

Joseph has another dream, but unlike the last one, this one was not a comforting dream but a warning. There isn’t a whole lot written about Joseph, so when he’s mentioned it must be important.

Matthew records what happens after that visit from the wise men. Sometime after they had gone an angel appeared to Joseph, again in a dream, telling him “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” (Matthew 2:13)

Now what? Imagine someone telling you tonight in a dream that you need to take your family and leave to another country.

Now.

Granted, they didn’t have a lot with them, as they had traveled to Bethlehem for the census and had stayed because Mary gave birth.

They weren’t planning to be there for long, so most of their household was still back in Nazareth, including Joseph’s carpentry business. Who knows what orders he had waiting to work on when he got back home. So to put all this into terms we can identify with, imagine that you and your family are on vacation, and on your last night at the hotel you’re told in a dream not to return home but to go somewhere else for who knows how long with just what you have with you. You can’t even call in sick as someone is after you and they can’t have a way to know where you are going to. You just need to leave.

Scripture doesn’t tell us what Joseph thought about this, or what the husband and wife discussions were, but what is recorded is their obedience. In fact, it says in verse 14 that Joseph “got up” which to me means he took it so serious that they got up in the middle of the night and left. They took what they had with them and left for Egypt.

The other amazing part of this story that isn’t talked about much is God’s provision for Mary & Joseph. They hadn’t planned to be here for long so they were likely running out of finances, so how were they to go to Egypt and live? It must have been amazing as they remembered the gifts the wise men brought.

One of the gifts was gold, which was likely what they used to finance this unexpected journey. At the time they must have looked at the 3 gifts presented to them and wondered what they were meant for, but now they could see it was God’s hand providing for them.

As we now turn our eyes to the New Year, there are gifts and provisions that were provided to us this past year that will help propel us where God wants us to be in the new year. That is the journey for the next season – to look with eyes of faith to see what God has provided already and where He would desire that you and I go for Him.

It can be a great focus for this time where many can enter into post-Christmas blues. Rather than thinking “what now” with despair, ask “what now” with hope!