December 20 by Rebecca Creed

SCRIPTURE
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet. “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

When I asked my ten-year-old son Gray to summarize this passage, he explained:
Joseph was engaged to Mary, but he figured out she was pregnant. He didn’t want to embarrass her, so he made plans to break the engagement. He changed his mind after an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not be afraid.” Joseph married Mary, and she had a son. Joseph named the baby Jesus.

However, when I asked Gray what he “yearns” for, he had trouble. How does a ten-year-old, who has almost everything he could possibly want, yearn for anything? We looked up the word “yearn” in his junior dictionary and found this definition: to “wish for very deeply.” So what do you wish for? I asked. Faith? Peace? Goodwill on earth? A deeper understanding of God? This, the deeper understanding of God, is the one he settled on.

For me, the question is easier. I yearn for answers, answers to the age-old questions of faith, of my purpose, of my responsibilities as a parent. And what I realize is that I am so busy with the business of living – so consumed with thoughts of planning dinner tonight and lunches tomorrow, with worries about work and deadlines and billable hours, with scheduling carpools and homework and after-school activities – that I no longer take the time to listen for answers. How, then, can I help my children grow to a deeper understanding of God when I’m still struggling with my own understanding?

In this passage, God gives Joseph the answers. God answers the questions that Joseph must have been asking himself about Mary and, maybe more importantly, about his own role in all of this. God helps Joseph understand what it all means and reassures him that everything will be okay.

More importantly though, Joseph listens. He hears God’s answer, and he follows God’s instructions. God is with us, if we would only take a moment to watch and wait for Him.
This Advent season, may we all take the time to listen for God. Only then will we hear the answers for which we long.

Rebecca Creed is an attorney with a small appellate firm in Riverside. She loves her time with her husband Chris and their two children, Gray (10) and Alice (6). The Creeds are enjoying their newest addition to the family: a six-month-old yellow lab named Mae, whose favorite part of Christmas is chewing on the wooden Nativity set.