Matthew 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

The Holy Family encountered very real danger. God gave them warning, but they had to cooperate to avoid the danger. This wasn’t the first and it wouldn’t be the last time Joseph made a major move in obedience to a divine dream, and the Lord rewarded his faithfulness. We aren’t told when or how he died, but it seems very clear that it was before Jesus began gathering disciples for ministry. I feel that his relatively early death was a reward for his faithfulness, because he didn’t have to go through all the mess of his younger children not accepting their big brother as the Messiah, and then Jesus being arrested and crucified. In any case, all of this serves as a background and confirmation of what Jesus told his disciples shortly before His crucifixion: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) There are believers enduring all sorts of dangers and hardships for their faith even right now. In fact, the pace of martyrdom is at the highest level ever, even though we think of the 1st Century as a time of great persecution. We must remember that the battle is fundamentally spiritual, whatever physical manifestations we might encounter. The Holy Family had to escape to Egypt because Herod served the devil, thinking he was serving himself. We too need to obey God’s guidance in order to evade unnecessary hardships, but we aren’t to be anxious about any of it, trusting that God will work it all out for good. (Romans 8:28)

I am certainly in the middle of living this out myself. On top of the stresses of dealing with church land, finances, and people, yesterday my main computer got hit by an attack that trashed the operating system, forcing me into a fresh install, which means I have to set up all my programs all over again. Had I been more wise, or prayed before acting, I might have avoided that, but my data is intact, and I have 30+ years of experience in installing software! I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in the awareness that this too is temporal, and nowhere near as consequential as the interpersonal relationships I had already been dealing with. All of that mess also caused me to go back to reading an excellent book that I need to implement in terms of spiritual warfare, and for that I am grateful. I can continue reading that book while I wait for all the programs to install! Nothing can happen to me that could in any way remove me from God’s love, (Romans 8:38-39) and that is wonderful to know.

Father, thank You for all that You are allowing me to go through. Thank You that great blessing will be the ultimate result. Help me remember that even in the heat of the moment, and allow Your peace to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 4:6-7) May I spend each day doing Your will on Your schedule, drawing many closer to You for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!