An Unknown Path

“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 

As Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with their precious infant, did they go in fear, or did they have serene confidence in the God who directed them? They must have moved quickly to escape the murderous King Herod. I thought about their path of escape filled with danger, and so I painted the road with lots of jagged rocks and ominous cliffs. But Joseph and Mary aren’t on that winding trail in the foreground. In my painting I put them on a different path (perhaps one that was unknown to Herod’s soldiers). With the Holy Family silhouetted against the glorious sunrise, it’s the splendorous dawn that takes centerstage, not the dark threat.  

Sometimes, like Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child, we’re forced to take a different road, an unknown one. It can seem fraught with uncertainty and even danger. Yet, as we trust God’s leading, the dawning of each new day always holds promise.  

God, I thank you that you are the Creator of every sunrise, lighting my way. Thank you for loving me and protecting me with your guidance. Teach me to trust you even when it means going on a different, unfamiliar road, because I know you have already gone before me.