I’m titling this God’s Disregard vs God’s Provision.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have heard “I feel forsaken. Abandoned by God.” or some variation of that. Sadly, it is all to common. Thankfully, it is also not true.
Psalm 105:8-11 says, “He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.’ ”
Notice the words “covenant,” “His sworn promise,” “everlasting covenant,” and “to you I will give.” Those do not sound like words from Someone who forgets. Just the opposite.
When Joseph & Mary (J & M) were in Bethlehem with the newborn baby Jesus, Joseph was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt to escape Herod’s vengeance and wrath. The wise men had been told in a dream not to go back to Herod and out of revenge Herod began to kill off all the male babies two years old or under. J & M were poor. How in the world would they ever be able to finance a trip to Egypt? God saw to that. 3 words: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.
- Gold is easy to explain its use.
- Myrrh was used as an antiseptic, to prevent infections, and to clean teeth. But the Egyptians used it for embalming.
- Frankincense was harvested at the southern tip of Saudi Arabia and exported to Egypt where it was used primarily in religious ceremonies. About the time J & M were heading to Egypt, Caesar Augustus was sending 10,000 troops to the Oman area to control its production.
Without it sounding too bad, I think it is safe to say J & M had nothing to worry about. That same God provides for us. We might feel as though God has disregarded us, but He hasn’t. Just like He did for J & M, He also does for us. We will not be disregarded or forsaken. The Scripture is Psalm 105 is still true for us.
“Father, thank you for being a covenant-keeping God. Thank you for keeping your promises. Help me to never feel alone; never feel disregarded. Thank you for the way you took care of J & M and continue to do the same for me.”
And do for me! Hallelujah!
Glad to hear your praise Diane.
Thanks for the perspective this morning…
You’re more than welcome.
Such a beautiful reminder of how God keeps His promises, and a great explanation of myrrh and frankincense which I hadn’t known before, though I had always understood them to be valuable in that day and time.
Blessings, Bill!
it was new to me as well Martha. But the lesson of God keeping His promises never grows old.
I always wondered what happened to the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I figured Joseph must have put his carpentry skills to good use to support the family in Egypt – but how did afford the trip in the first place? They had to leave Bethlehem pretty quickly and they wouldn’t have had enough time to earn money for the journey. Wonderful, Bill!
Thanks Glynn. I read that first in 46 Stones by Randall Arthur. Man, I wish I could take credit for it. 🙂 But as I’ve thought about it, it makes more sense.
Wow. Thanks for the reminder and history lesson, Bill!
you’re welcome Floyd. I was blown away by a new thought for sure.