Fight or Flight

Daily Reading: Matthew 2

Matthew 2:13-15 “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (14) When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: (15) And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

I find it interesting that the angel of the Lord gives this message to Joseph. Not so much the giving of the message, but the message itself is interesting to me. I mean…if you read this verse and knew nothing of God or His power you would almost get the impression that He is afraid of Herod. Wouldn’t it have been easier for God to just have killed Herod instead of allowing Herod to kill all those babies? It sounds like He’s running away and allowing all these babies to be destroyed in the process. Some families probably lost more than one child in the mess…children two years and under could even be three children. I can’t imagine the horror of that time. Why would God do it this way?

I don’t have an answer. I really don’t understand it. I’m sure there are theologians that would probably be able to shed some light on it, but I just don’t know.

I do know that God is sovereign and His ways are higher than mine. He must have had good reason and His love for His people didn’t change because He did this. In fact…if I believe that He loves His people as much as He says He does than I cannot believe anything other than what He did was ultimately in the best interest of them and others who would follow. I need not question anything God chooses to do because I believe that He loves me and would not forsake me. This doesn’t change the fact that I don’t understand it, but it allows me to worship Him despite it.

It’s just like Grace. I don’t know why God hasn’t pulled her up from that chair and made her walk, but I know that He loves her more than I do and whatever He chooses to do and whenever He chooses to do it is not my responsibility but His. He is passionately in love with Grace and will do everything in His power to complete the work in her that He has destined for her. What do I know about it?