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Barricades In Front 

Dear Ladies, 

All summer, fall and winter there have been detour barricades in front of my house.  Large, heavy equipment has moved back and forth digging deep trenches, filling them with huge cement culverts and covering them up again.  It made for inconveniences, dug up shrubs and yards, but my neighbors and I conceded because it is a promise for improvement.  No longer would Hawthorne be a flood street.

Do we count detours as appointments from God or are they plain irritations, disruptions, and unnecessary evils?  Joseph and Mary experienced a long "after Christmas" detour - an ugly, totally unplanned detour.  Their hopes had been to return home to Nazareth, set up their carpenter shop and live a quiet, peaceful life caring for their Holy Spirit conceived Child, Jesus.  

But that was not to be.
             "The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take
             the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you
             word;  for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  Matthew 2: 13

Egypt?  They could think of far more pleasant places to be. It was sooo far away.  Why that was the place of deception for Abraham, and of bondage, enforced slavery and abuse for Israel.  Why not something better if it has to be.  Why, Lord?

At night?  Can't we even say a decent goodbye to our friends?  Must we leave like thieves?

Only with Mary and the young Child?  Alone?  We have no friends or relatives there?  What will we do as strangers in that heathen land?  If the Child gets sick who will we turn to for advice or help?

Until I bring you word?  How long?  Lord, it isn't fair.  We want to plan, to have some order in our lives.  Don't you recall that we've already had this unplanned stay in Bethlehem?  How many years will it be?

Herod seeks to destroy the Child?  Now what have we done to deserve such treatment?  We're law abiding folk.  I've always been a just man.  The Child has done no wrong. I came here just to obey the law.  Why this?  Why me? 

Our lives are often dotted, likewise, with detours like machine breakdowns, delays, hazards, ill- nesses, hospital stays, bad weather, job changes, etc.  Sometimes we even have self-appointed detour caused by willful ignorance, plain stubbornness, resisting God's will, etc.  We often respond in anger, worry, pouting, arguing, fretting, unthankfulness and seek to forge ahead with our own plans.

The Bible doesn't record any self defense or self-maneuverings on Joseph's account.  This was
an appointment from God.  It came as a direct fulfillment of prophecy.  "Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Hosea II: I)  It was part of God's plan revealing His wonderful keeping, caring power.  Joseph responded in willing obedience.

Detours, delays and unexpected changes often grind and irritate us.  Let's not allow ourselves
to fret and feel that detours are all evil or that we have missed God's plan, but rather ask God's purpose and willingly submit to His guidance and perfect will.  Let us rather realize "My times are in His hands." (Psalm 31:15) and "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." (Psalm. 37:23)  These are not aggravating "detour signs" but "God's appointed improvements planned.  I write from the experience of having to remind myself of His leading all these months of disruption.
              

Experiencing God's ways with you,

June Wiebe