But Lord, I Don’t Want to Go There
ARLENE PELLICANE
“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to
Egypt. Stay there /until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the
child /to kill him.’
So he got up, took the child and his mother /during the night and left for Egypt.” Matthew 2:13-14 (NIV)
Have you ever had to move on … when you really wanted to stay put?
Maybe you didn’t want to relocate because of work. Perhaps you dreaded that first appointment with a counselor or fitness coach. You pleaded with the Lord, “Please, don’t make me go there!”
I have felt /that way /before and I believe Mary, the mother of Jesus,
also knew what that was like.
In Matthew 2:9-12, we find the Magi visiting Mary’s family. Imagine Mary’s delight and awe /to see the Magi worshipping her son.
She didn’t have to worry /about necessities /because the Magi gave
young Jesus treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Maybe Mary wanted
to freeze those moments of abundance and goodness. After all, it had
been a hard journey to Bethlehem
and giving birth in a stable wasn’t exactly comfortable or lavish.
Yet after the Magi had gone, our key verse introduces an angel of the
Lord //who appears to Joseph in a dream.
He instructs Joseph to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt /because King Herod was trying to kill Jesus.
Imagine going to bed happily with visions of Magi, gold and treasures, then being shaken in the darkness with the urgent command, “Get up! We must travel now to Egypt. Herod is trying to kill Jesus!”
Another journey … and of all places, to Egypt. Egypt was
famous for idolatry, tyranny and enmity toward the people of God.
It was
the house of bondage /for the Israelites — the place //where centuries
earlier, Hebrew male infants had been sentenced
/to death.
Don’t you think () Mary might have thought, “But Lord, I don’t want to go there. Are You sure about this?”
Notice () the Lord spoke to Joseph, not Mary. Mary had to trust that God
had spoken to her husband.
We don’t know if she said stubbornly, “Well,
if we’re supposed to go to that awful place Egypt,
the angel better come back and tell me!”
But I doubt that’s what she said. That’s not consistent with Mary’s character and disposition of “let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38c, NKJV). The Bible tells us () they left that night for Egypt. There was no delay. With every step, Mary declared her faith in God. She knew () her position was the “maidservant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38b) not the “master of her own life.”
Would you or I have gone so directly, so obediently?
About six years ago, I attended a small prayer meeting /once a week /at my church. I loved that prayer time with older, wiser women //who taught me how to persevere in prayer. Yet in this peaceful oasis, I felt the Lord nudging me to start another prayer meeting at my home, in my neighborhood instead.
But then I would miss praying with my friends.
But then I would have to lead /instead of just participating.
But then I would have to clean my house!
Regardless of my questions, excuses and hesitations, I couldn’t shake
the thought. I knew () the Lord wanted me to make the change /from my
beloved fellowship /to something new. A few months later, I opened up my
home and four moms joined me
/for the first time /to pray together /for our children and our neighborhood school.
It’s been wonderful.
Sometimes God calls us /away from something good /so He can do a new work /in a different place.
Whether God calls us far away to Egypt or to our own dining room
table, we must trust and go /as Mary did.
Mary’s days in Egypt fulfilled
[what the Lord had said through the prophet Hosea],
“… Out of Egypt I called my son”(Matthew 2:15b, NIV).
When God calls us to new or different places, He’s fulfilling His purposes through us, too.
Lord, may I go where You call me without delay. Like Mary, I am Your maidservant. May it be to me according to Your Word. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.