Sunday Devotion: 29 December 2019, First Sunday after Christmas
Sunday Devotions
Hope and restoration
Main Readings: Isaiah 63.7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2.10-18; Matthew 2.13-23
Supplementary Readings: Psalm 132.1-9; 2 Corinthians 13.5-13; Isaiah 63.9-14; Psalm 66.12-19; John 3.16-21
“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” (Matthew 2.20)
One day I received a call from my husband asking me if I preferred Darwin or Perth for his forthcoming Air Force posting. As we still had children at school, I chose Perth. However, as it happened, seven years later we then ended up in Darwin, and it was there that I first felt a call to ordination. Would the call have happened if we had gone to Darwin first? Probably, but my life journey during those years was a significant catalyst for identifying my call, which may not have otherwise happened.
This week’s Gospel reading reveals a God who cares for what happens to us as individuals — God who called Joseph to take his family away from ‘clear and present danger’ even if it meant settling in a foreign land for a while. The reading also reveals a God who did not abandon them, a God who remained with them and then, when the danger was no longer present, a God who invited them to return to home.
During my married life, I have been in many ‘foreign lands’, both physical and spiritual, but God has always been with me. God has been my strength during such times, and when the invitation to return from those lands comes, I just need to respond.
Life can get messy sometimes. Life does not always play out the way we envisage it, throwing us curve balls at unexpected moments. But, if we trust in God’s love for us, we will always have the right swing to hit those curve balls for a home run.
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