It’s the day after Christmas. What do you talk about on the day after celebrating Jesus’ birthday?

I asked God that exact question this morning and his answer was so clear … talk about what happened next. And it was literally a light bulb moment because what happened after Jesus’ birth is most certainly applicable in my life, and probably applicable in yours as well. Do you know what happened after Jesus’ birth? The gospel of Luke doesn’t tell us, so we often miss it. We read our Christmas story in the book of Luke, but we have to go back a few chapters in our Bible to the account of Matthew to read what happened after Jesus’ miraculous birth.

What happened after can be summed up in one word … TROUBLE.

That’s what God has asked me to talk to you about today on the day after Christmas … trouble. Where does trouble come from? How do you handle trouble? How does God respond to trouble?

We’re going to read several verses that seem very dark and harsh, but hang with me because if you’re facing trouble you need to know about the sweet promises of God in all of this. You need to know the truth so you can cling to it. Don’t check out because this could be the most important thing you’ve heard all week.

Okay, so you know how the nativity scenes include 3 men bearing gifts? Those men are known as the 3 wise men. They had been awaiting the birth of the Messiah and had seen a star which led them Bethlehem. On their journey, they met with King Herod and told the King about this star which was guiding them to the Savior who was to be born. King Herod was furious and threatened and planned to use the 3 wise men to lead him to this Messiah child to kill him.

The arrangement was made for the wise men to follow the star, find baby Jesus, then return to King Herod and reveal his location. But after they found Jesus in Bethlehem, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (That, by the way, was the first Christmas gifts.)

But, check this out … Matthew 2:12, “When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.”

God already had plans to save his son, and God’s plans were greater than King Herod’s plans! While King Herod was being sneaky and evil, God was being GOD! God is above all. God sees all, knows all and controls all. Nothing gets by him!

I don’t know about you, but I needed to be reminded of that. God knows exactly what is happening. He knows the harm being planned. He knows the attacks being schemed. He’s not surprised or caught off guard by any of it. He’s known it all along and has a plan through it. That truth applies to my trouble, and that truth applies to your trouble. God knows. God has a plan!

Now we’re going to read the rest of the chapter. Again, there are some hard things to read, but don’t check out. Trouble is real. Trouble always comes after good because good is always attacked. And trouble is no match for God! As we read, watch how God was always one step ahead in the plan and had even foretold it hundreds of years before.

Matthew 2: 13-23:

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay here until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were 2 years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoke through the prophet Jeremiah: “A cry was heard in Ramah – weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”

So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

What a whirlwind! What a mess! This was Jesus’ childhood!

When I imagine being the mother of Jesus, I imagine this perfect baby who became this perfect toddler and a home filled with absolute peace. Jesus was indeed perfect, but their life was the opposite of peace! They were being hunted, chased and threatened every single day.

But look at God’s faithfulness. Look at his provision. And what’s really amazing is look at the prophesies from hundreds of years ago that seemed so contradictory, yet were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus.

God spoke to a man named Hosea 800 years before Jesus was born and told him the Savior would come out of Egypt. Y’all the only reason Jesus was in Egypt was because Mary and Joseph had to hide from King Herod there. It’s where they went in the trouble. And God knew about it! God knew about the trouble that would come 800 years before and he had already made a plan of protection through that trouble.

And Matthew says Jesus living in the town of Nazareth fulfills the prophesy saying, “He will be called a Nazarene.” If you dig deeper, the meaning of this is even greater. It’s not just referring to where Jesus would live as a child, it’s referring to how he would be rejected and despised. The area of Nazareth had a negative reputation among the Jews. It was a forgotten town, far from everything and they thought absolutely nothing good could come from Nazareth. Much like a ghetto … what good comes from a ghetto? Or a backwoods little country town in the sticks with nothing … what good comes from nothing? That’s how Nazareth was talked about. To be called a Nazarene was a reference to being a nobody. It’s a rejection. It’s a put down.

And God knew his beloved son would be rejected from the very beginning. 700 years before Jesus, through the prophet of Isaiah, he said this about Jesus:
Isaiah 53: 3-5:

“He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighted him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! Be he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”

Through it all, this was God’s promise for you and I … he knew of the trouble that would come and he had a plan through it all. His plan was to pay the price for our rebellion. His plan was to make us whole. His plan was to heal us completely.

Nothing could stop that. Nothing will stop that.

Yes, all good comes under attack. We see that from the moment Jesus is born. And God knew it hundreds of years before.

My good has come under attack. I bet yours has too. But God knew about it way before and he has a plan through it for you. The enemy of your soul wants you to believe God doesn’t hear you and cause you to grow bitter and give up … God says, “my girl, I know and I have a plan.”

Life comes with trouble. Jesus wasn’t immune to trouble, and neither are you and I. But, here’s the promise and it’s a promise we must cling to when the good in our lives is under attack:

Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Every trouble you could possibly have, God already knows about it and already has a plan through it. Jesus has already overcome it.

So hey trouble, you’ve already been overcome. And because I know you’ve already been overcome, I don’t have to be overwhelmed by you today!

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