Tuesday 11th December

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman Empire. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. Luke 2:1–4

The journey was one of over 90 miles and fraught with problems, difficulties and danger from bandits and wild animals. And anything needed on the journey had to be carried with them. The Bible does not tell us all this, but we know from historical investigations that it was not an easy journey to make. However, we can be certain that God made sure that they arrived safely in Bethlehem.

Our journey through Life can be rather like that and we often carry mental baggage with us along the way. How often do we come up against some problem, which, at first, seems to have no solution and makes us feel “I can’t do that” or wonder “how do we get out of this mess?” Then, when the difficulty is overcome we still don’t always understand how, even with hindsight. We cannot simply ask the Lord to sort it out for us and then press on regardless, but we can ask for His guidance and try to learn from the experience.

Looking back I can see where God has intervened in my life over the years, in most cases before I asked the Lord Jesus into my life, and though I did not appreciate it at the time, I can now begin to understand the wisdom of His motives. Belatedly, I am learning.

Like Joseph, we must accept that there will be difficulties, but we must continue our journey with God’s guidance. With the Lord nothing is impossible.

Yours because His