A Family Flees

It’s that feeling we get in the pit of our stomach when we have a deadline at work approaching. It’s the tension in the back of our neck when there are more bills than there are dollars in the bank. It’s the pain behind our eyes and in the middle of our forehead when the kids are complaining or fighting. It’s the lurch we feel in our chest when something else goes wrong. It’s stress, that feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with the circumstances of life.

Since the day Adam and Eve took a bite from the forbidden fruit, humans have been plagued by stress. As they ran behind the bushes trying to hide from God, they must have felt it. As they packed their bags and left the Garden of Eden, I’m sure they did. When Eve felt her first labor pain, or when the couple watched the relationship between their two son’s disintegrating, I know they experienced stress. I’m sure Mary and Joseph did as well.

We don’t know how much time passed between the birth of Jesus and the visit of the wise men. From scripture, we know that the young family was living in a house and that Jesus was referred to as a child (Matthew 2:11). Because of Herod’s edict to kill boys two-years-old and younger, many theologians think Jesus may have been around that age. Suffice it to say, after Jesus’s birth, Mary and Joseph did not rush back to Nazareth.

Maybe they made a new life for themselves there in Bethlehem. Maybe Joseph opened up a carpenter’s shop on the edge of town. Most likely they were settled into a new routine by the time the wise men stopped by for a visit. But Mary may have not had time to wash the sheets on the spare bed before the young family was relocated once more.

In the middle of the night, after the wise men had gone on their way, an angel appeared to Joseph again, warning him to head to Egypt. Can you imagine Mary’s surprise when Joseph shook her awake and told her to pack a few bags? Joseph was not a man to hesitate or second-guess. That very night, the young family began their journey to Egypt where they would live for about three years.

Psychologists list a number of life events, both good and bad, that can cause added stress in our lives. Marriages and divorces, births and deaths, moves, and career changes are just a few. Think about all the changes that Mary and Joseph experienced in such a short period of time. One day they were a happily-engaged young couple making plans for their wedding celebration, and the next day, they were the objects of town gossip. One day, Mary was a teenage girl with her whole life ahead of her, and the next, she was pregnant out-of-wedlock, with God’s son.

In three years, the young couple faced changes in themselves, in their relationships, and in their homes. They had to face an uncertain world without all the familiar anchors of home and family. They had to adjust to being a married couple. They had to learn how to be parents. They were confronted by angels and blessed by strangers. They were in many ways set apart from the rest of the world. Yet, they were never sure who or when someone might come knocking at the door to get a glimpse of their special son. They lived in three different places, and, while they couldn’t have completely, understood, they knew that their child’s life was in constant danger.

The Mary and Joseph at the beginning of the Christmas story could not have been the same young couple at the end. Their surroundings were different and so were their souls. As any new parent knows, bringing a child into the world is a big change in and of itself. But Mary and Joseph didn’t just have any child in their care. They were raising the Son of God. Their lives could not have been unfolding as they had once imagined. Their minds, hearts, and bodies had to have felt the strain as they faced one crisis after another.

Just because we don’t talk about this part of Christmas doesn’t make it any the less real. By examining their journey from plain peasants to a holy household, we can learn a thing or two about the troubles we face in the twenty-first century.

For most of the world, the year of 2020 has been a year of tremendous change and considerable stress. COVID concerns, lockdowns, political and social unrest have isolated us and divided us like never before. Most of us feel like rubber bands that have been stretched too thin. We are at our breaking points. While we all have ideas of what our lives should be like, this year has proven how futile those ideas really are.

The Bible tells us that “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Usually, the reason we feel like life is such a catastrophe is because things have not gone the way we wanted. We like to feel in control. We like to think ten steps ahead. When things get turned around, when life doesn’t go the way we planned, we panic. The nativity reminds us that we should hold all our plans loosely. God can and does orchestrate and allow changes in our lives. Sometimes those changes are good and glorious; sometimes, they are not.

It's not an easy pill to swallow, but here’s the truth of the matter. When we live a life submitted to Christ, our dreams have to take a backseat to God’s will. Like Mary and Joseph, we must be willing to follow where God directs even if that means a detour. Most of all, we can be confident that because of the love of God, no matter what changes, what stressors, what good or bad events, take place in our lives, we will be OK.; we are in God’s hands. When Mary and Joseph hustled off to Egypt, they couldn’t have known the bigger picture. I’m sure they didn’t understand, but they trusted the Lord with their lives, and they felt His love with them all the way.

Don’t forget to check out Tricia’s corresponding Christmas blog, “Leaning on Love in the Midst of Change.”