hazy days and foggy nights 355/366

 

11:42 AM Saturday

the haze was thick

the sun barely shone through

I knew it was there 

but it's strength seemed weak

10:30 PM Sunday

the fog is so thick

I cannot find the moon 

I know it is there,

but I cannot see it

I've lived long enough to know that just because it is difficult to see them clearly,

that does not translate to any change in them

they remain the same as they always are

and the time will come again

when they are not shrouded or covered

I've also lived long enough to know

that when situations or circumstances make it hard to clearly "see" God at work 

it does not translate to Him being idle 

or removed 

or uncaring

there is absolutely nothing I face, 

even the things that blur my vision, 

that can affect what is true about Him

Can you imagine how Mary felt when Gabriel appeared and told her she was going to have a baby? She was a virgin. Virgins do not conceive. Who would believe her if she dared say "I have been chosen to bear God's Son." 

Can you imagine how Joseph felt when he found out his betrothed was pregnant. They had not had sex. And virgins do not conceive. And what was his reaction when Gabriel came to him and confirmed Mary's story? Who would have believed him if he'd said "it isn't my child?"

Do you think things may have seemed a little hazy, a little foggy, a little unclear to them and to their parents, siblings, other family members, Rabbi and friends?

Can you hear the whispers, the innuendos, the doubts, the questions, the accusations, spoken and unspoken? 

Regardless, Mary and Joseph chose to walk humbly, by faith, in obedience. 

To trust God. 

Even when things were unclear. 
We know the whole story-should we do any less than they?

God is forever faithful, 

forever loving, 

forever present

forever working His eternal plan

sometimes He allows me to have a glimpse of how He is orchestrating things

most often I simply have to choose to walk by faith,

in obedience,

trusting Him

Jesus.

Immanuel, 

God with us.

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ' The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel' (which means "God with us"). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." Matthew 1:22-24