The People of Christmas: The Trusting
I trust gravity will keep my feet anchored to the floor when I get out of bed.
I trust the light will turn on when I flip the electric switch.
I trust the sun will rise tomorrow morning.
There is a slight chance that one or all of those things may not happen. But given my past experience, the probability is that they will occur . . . just as I trust they will.
But is it trust on my part, or is it simply a reliance on past experience?
What if I had never experienced a sunrise? Or if I had never known the effects of gravity? Or if I didn’t know what electricity was? Then it really would be trust!
With that in mind, consider the account of the first Christmas from the perspective of the participants.
Mary was asked to trust that God would do the impossible: cause her to become pregnant by His Spirit.
Joseph was asked to trust that God did the impossible: caused his fiancée to be pregnant while still a faithful virgin.
Mary’s parents were asked to trust that God had done the impossible: send His angel to communicate with their daughter—not just a female, which would have been unthinkable as it is, but barely a child herself.
Each of these people were asked to trust God in unusual circumstances without any direct experience to draw on.
A virgin birth? Never happened before.
Angels speaking to women? Unthinkable.
A woman pregnant outside of marriage? Countercultural at best and a violation of the Mosaic Law which required a death sentence (Deut. 22:20-21).
And yet, each of these people did trust God. Their hope rested on the character and ways of God, as He had revealed Himself in His Word. They expressed their faith and trust in the Lord despite situations that screamed
“Don’t believe him!”
“Don’t believe her!”
“This is impossible!”
The essence of their trust and hope depended on having a high view of God. It depended on being absolutely convinced that nothing is impossible for El Elyon, the Most High God. Nothing is out of the control of the Sovereign Lord who never stopped being Lord of His creation.
What impossible situation are you facing today? Are you finding it difficult to trust the Lord? The higher your view of God—the bigger God is in your sight—the easier it will be to trust Him, regardless of how impossible your circumstances appear.
The angel told Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37, ESV). Jesus said, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, ESV).
Do we truly believe this? The key to maintaining hope and trust this Christmas season and throughout the year, regardless of what comes, is to maintain a high view of God—the God for whom nothing is impossible.
Mary and Joseph trusted El Elyon. Will you and I do the same?
Amen. Trust God. He never fails.
God is worthy of our trust.
Amen 🙏. Love your thoughts in this post. God is 💯 trustworthy. Thanks for reminding me today.
God truly can and does work miracles in the seemingly impossible. Halleluiah!!
Their lives set us such a good example! The choices they made and the amount of faith each of those choices required was HUGE! Death could have happened. Betrayal assumed. Yet God worked in Joseph and in Mary’s hearts to submit to the plan, to trust that what was reported as having occurred actually did occur.. Thoughts of divorce were set aside, and obedience to the leading of God, who spoke to Joseph in a dream led to an acceptance of God’s plan, no matter whether they understood or not. Their faith calls to us to step out in faith, for the Lord can be trusted.
Good message, Ava. Our trust is often based on past experience. This is so truthful and powerful,”The essence of their trust and hope depended on having a high view of God. It depended on being absolutely convinced that nothing is impossible for El Elyon, the Most High God.” Yes!