Psalm 59:16
But I will sing about your strength, my God, and I will celebrate because of your love. You are my fortress, my place of protection in times of trouble.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Around 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve 1997, we were awakened by a phone call from my mom. She and my brother were taking my dad to the ER. He was having trouble breathing. My dad was already very ill, having suffered kidney failure following an arteriogram to test for vascular blockage in October of that year. My husband and I rushed to the hospital, where doctors eventually determined that my dad needed to be transported by ambulance to Little Rock. We had planned a huge “open house” at our home for Christmas Eve afternoon… lots of food, fun and visits with family and friends. But none of that mattered now… we needed to get my mom to Little Rock and see about my dad.
Mom had other ideas. “You are to stay here,” she insisted. “I’ll go home and gather some things and be on my way… I won’t be far behind the ambulance. You are to go ahead with your open house as planned… that’s what your dad and I want. You don’t need to worry about me… I’ll be fine.” My mother inherited her dad’s stubborn streak, and it was shining brightly at the moment! Standing in her raincoat, her curly white hair peeking from the hood, my mother looked small, but determined. And on this Christmas Eve morning, I was immediately reminded of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Historians say that Mary was very young – possibly no more than thirteen when Jesus was born. Yet we know nothing of the parents of Mary and Joseph. We do know that Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth. And Scripture tells us that when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was pregnant, she trusted this information and accepted it on faith, even though she was a virgin.
So I can imagine that a very pregnant Mary said to her parents, “Don’t worry about me… I’ll be fine.” I can just see her hugging her parents and telling them good-bye, then climbing atop Joseph’s donkey to make the trip to Bethlehem. And her parents must have been equally faithful… confident that letting their daughter go off with her fiancé to a foreign land in this condition – as crazy as it seemed - was exactly what was supposed to happen!
We went ahead with our “open house”. My dad was released from the hospital a few days later, and he and my mom returned home. We celebrated Christmas as a family on New Year’s weekend. And just as she had said, my mom made it safely to Little Rock and back. I can’t say she was “fine,” because I know she spent a lonely, difficult Christmas in that hospital by my dad’s bedside. I’m sure she was worried for him and homesick for us. But God gave her the strength, courage and resolve to make it through this and many other challenging situations.
I saw God do the same thing for the wife of my cousin a few years later, when she traveled alone in the dark of night back and forth between Heber Springs and Memphis, where her husband was hospitalized. She told her children the same thing, “I’ll be fine.” And because she and my mother share the same kind of abiding, unwavering faith, I knew in reason she would be. I was able to reassure them with confidence – and experience – that this was the case.
You and I have quite a legacy of faith… not to mention the protection of God. So often we panic and wring our hands and forget that He promised long, long ago to take care of us… and He’s still in the business of doing so today. Just as God was a fortress for Joseph and Mary, and millions of other people through the ages, He is our fortress today.
I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t know if you are facing scary things this Christmas Eve… the prospect of being alone for the holidays… or huge challenges that loom in the future. But I know that with God, all things are possible. With God as your fortress, you can handle anything. You can put your trust in Him to walk with you and offer you protection and guidance every step of the way… and you can rest in the faith that He will do this.
God’s word was good enough for Mary and Joseph… it was good enough for my mom and countless others through the centuries… and it’s good enough for us! Are we faithful enough to believe it? Isn’t today the perfect time to begin?
©2010 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment