Lord, God with us,
Thank you for this morning, for your presence that I feel as the day awakens. You come to me, just as you came to Joseph and Mary in their time of expectation and uncertainty.
Today, I wish to step into Joseph’s sandals. I want to feel his distress, the inner drama he faced when his world was turned upside down.
He had his own plan, a good life with Mary, but you had a different plan for him, a greater mission. How difficult it is when my own plans fall apart.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8)
Your Plans, Not Mine
Joseph was a righteous man. He did not want to disgrace Mary, whom he loved so dearly. In his pain, he decided on a sacrifice, a quiet departure. But you intervened.
You found his faith and, in a dream, showed him your path—a path of love and happiness that surpassed anything he could have imagined.
Please, Lord, teach me this posture. “Your plans, not mine”—may this be my prayer.
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
Joseph did not allow anger or bitterness to poison his soul. He accepted your new way, and in this surrender, he became more free and greater. He found himself by going beyond himself.
Please, cleanse me of all silent anger and resistance, so that I may fully embrace your will.
God, Who Bends Down to the Lowly
Then there is Mary, your Mother and ours. A woman full of grace, who had the courage to entrust herself completely to your Word. Through her, you drew near to humanity in such a unique way.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
In her, the prophecy was fulfilled, the promise of your nearness that changed the destiny of humankind.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:23)
What happened in her was impossible in the eyes of the world. But you are the God of the impossible.
“For no word from God will ever fail.” (Luke 1:37)
Your choices never cease to amaze me. You choose the simple, the humble, those whom the world despises. You come into my smallness, into my powerlessness. Because you find me in my smallness, I am able to receive you at all.
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)
You are the God who turns the world’s logic upside down.
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” (Luke 1:52)
Lord, today I wish to walk with Joseph and Mary toward Bethlehem. Grant me their faith and trust.
Help me to open the doors of my life to you, Emmanuel, God-with-us, who comes into my own life, into my own flesh.
Amen.
AMEN!!!