God's Peace Series

God’s Peace

December 18, 2022

What happens when things don’t go the way you planned? When the unplanned and unwanted happens, it’s not always to experience God’s peace. So, I want to talk about how we handle those disappointments and hardships. What do you do when you feel disappointed in God? When God seems to throw you a curve ball?

You did everything you could to raise your kids in a way you thought was wise, and now you've got a child making decisions that blows you away.

Maybe your plans for this year didn’t materialize as you planned. You didn’t plan to experience sickness and death; loss, struggle, depression or anxiety.

What do you do when you believe God’s plans are definitely not yours?

We're going to look at Luke 2, perhaps the most powerful version of the Christmas story, the birth of Christ. Shepherds were in the field taking care of their flocks and an angel of the Lord appears to them. Luke 2 tells us - - -

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

“Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

That’s the second half of the Christmas story. I want to tell you about the first half. Because it’s an amazing story.

It’s a story where the main characters were probably asking “What do you do when you find yourself wondering where God is when you're doing everything you believe is right?”

It’s a heart-wrenching story that most people are pretty familiar with. It could be a hallmark movie. It’s about a young couple who move through what feels like betrayal, deceit, and total dysfunction.

I don't want you to hear this story like you've heard it 100 times before. I want you to imagine that these are very real people with hopes and dreams, just like you. And we're going to watch as this young couple navigate through a difficult time

Mary and Joseph have this traumatic birth followed by a nightmare where they're running as fugitives from King Herod. And all of this disappointment and trouble because they were trying to do exactly what God wanted them to do.

I’m going to take a little liberties with the story to modernize it a bit. I'll tell you the story kind of like it happened today. Maybe it helps us better understand what’s happening.

Imagine Joe has the perfect proposal planned for Mary. He gets the ring and takes her out to a beautiful summer sunset. He's going to propose on the Bethlehem bridge. It’s all set up. Friends are hiding, taking videos and pictures. It’s going to blow up Instagram. The proposal is a great success . . . and Mary is thrilled!

Fast forward and they're excitedly planning their wedding. They're getting married in May. And the honeymoon is at an all inclusive resort in Rome. They've got plans to pay off the loans from Joe's trade school. And they're really excited about the future.

They're going to live in an apartment for two years. Then they're going to build a home in a nice suburb of Nazareth. Joe's going to do most of the work.

In time they’ll expand the business, hire others and make money. Then, they’re going to start having babies. But not for at least 3-5 years. They had great plans.