“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19

In the book of Matthew 2, we are given the birth and origin story of Jesus Christ .Through this story we learn of the struggles of Mary being shunned and almost put away by Joseph for having a baby outside of him. While the family fleeing from the enemies that seek to kill their family.

After the birth of Jesus, the family begins to travel in fear of being found out by those who seek to kill Jesus. At this point the family wants to settle with their newborn, but yet it seems they can’t get away from the enemies that seek them. God reminds Joseph that even though the enemies are present that [Emmanuel] God is with them. Yet Joseph is human and he is afraid, and he can’t seem to shake the idea that the God would tell him to travel into the land where the enemies are present, so he runs the opposite way. Okay, God hears and understands Joseph’s worries, so now the enemies are defeated:

“But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:” (Matthew 2:19-22)

Joseph is close to entering the land of promise, yet still is afraid of the enemy that might come will entering the promised land. We have to be reminded the enemy is going to and from the earth seeking after the children of God. Although we are not immune to the confrontation and schemes the enemies try, we must be reminded that Jesus is with us through it all.

Takeaway: Do not look to the past to determine your steps forward. Joseph was so afraid of last time with King Herod desiring to kill him that he felt the same would happen under Herod’s son rulership. God makes a way, even when it seems like a similar road of last time. Keep Faith and trust that God said what He said because He cannot lie. We cannot rely on our own understanding and what we see, that is not Faith. But Faith says “God you said it, and you will do it, Amen”.