SAFE IN HIS HANDS
Text: Matthew 2:13–23 (NIV)
Beloved, one of the most comforting and challenging truths in all of Scripture can be summed up in this declaration:
What God ordains, God protects.
What God purposes, God preserves.
What God plans, God guards.
We love to talk about the birth of Jesus. We sing about the manger. We celebrate the angels. We rejoice with the shepherds. But if we are honest, we often rush past the danger that surrounded His arrival. We celebrate the cradle but forget the crisis. We shout over the lullaby but skip the threat. We marvel at the star but ignore the sword of Herod.
Matthew refuses to let us romanticize the story. He pulls back the curtain and shows us that Jesus did not enter a quiet world. He entered a hostile one. The same night angels were singing, a king was scheming. The same moment heaven was rejoicing, hell was strategizing. While Mary was rocking a baby, Herod was sharpening a blade.
Jesus was born into danger.
Born into tension.
Born into a world that did not want Him.
And here is the shouting truth of the text: before Jesus ever preached a sermon, before He ever healed a sick body, before He ever hung on a cross, God was already protecting Him.
Matthew chapter 2 teaches us that divine purpose always attracts opposition. If you carry destiny, you will draw danger. If you are anointed, you will be announced to the enemy. But the good news is this: the same God who allows the threat also provides the covering.
This sermon is not just about a baby in Bethlehem.
It is about a God who knows how to hide what He intends to use.
It is about a God who knows how to guard what carries destiny.
It is about a God who knows how to cover those who are walking in His will.
Some of you are wondering how you survived what you went through.
Some of you are amazed you are still standing after what was aimed at you.
Some of you should have been taken out, but God stepped in.
And I came to tell somebody today that was not luck.
That was not coincidence.
That was not chance.
That was protection with purpose.
The same God who wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes also wrapped Him in divine safety. And the same God who protected Jesus is still protecting His people today. If you are still here, still breathing, still believing, it is because God has been hiding you, covering you, and keeping you safe in His hands.
And that brings us to our first truth.
POINT I: GOD PROVIDES SAFETY THROUGH DIVINE DIRECTION
(Matthew 2:13–15)
Matthew tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt… for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him.”
Before Herod ever moved his troops, God moved heaven.
Before the enemy could act, God gave instruction.
Before danger showed up at the door, God sounded the alarm.
Do not miss the order of the text. God warned Joseph before Herod attacked.
Joseph had no political power.
No military protection.
No influence in the palace.
But Joseph had access to God. And access to God will do what influence never can.
God gave direction before destruction.
God gave instruction before interruption.
God gave warning before the weapon was raised.
This teaches us a critical truth: divine safety often flows through divine sensitivity. Joseph was a listening man, and because he listened, he lived. When God spoke, Joseph moved. He did not argue. He did not negotiate. He did not wait until morning. The Bible says he got up that very night and left.
Delayed obedience can expose you to unnecessary danger.
There are places God told you to leave.
Relationships God told you to step away from.
Decisions God told you not to make.
And your safety is often tied to your obedience.
God has always been a God who sounds the alarm before danger arrives. He warned Noah before the rain fell. He instructed Israel to apply the blood before the death angel passed through. Those who followed the instruction were spared. Those who ignored it suffered loss.
God still warns His people.
Like a fire alarm, His voice does not wait until flames are visible. It goes off early. Some ignore it. Some delay. Some silence it because it feels inconvenient. But the alarm is not trying to irritate you. It is trying to save you.
Joseph did not see Herod coming, but God did. And when God warned him, Joseph moved.
Some of you are still alive today because God sounded the alarm and you listened. That was not luck. That was protection.
POINT II: GOD PROVIDES SAFETY THROUGH UNLIKELY PLACES
(Matthew 2:13–15; Hosea 11:1; Psalm 91:1)
The angel tells Joseph to flee to Egypt.
Egypt.
That word carries history. Egypt was the house of bondage. The land of chains. The place of oppression. And yet now, Egypt becomes the place of refuge.
Here is the faith-stretching lesson: God can turn yesterday’s bondage into today’s shelter.
The same Egypt that enslaved Israel now protects Israel’s Savior. What once symbolized captivity now participates in redemption. God redeems places the same way He redeems people.
Matthew tells us this fulfilled Scripture: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” What used to hurt you can now hold you. What once broke you can now bless you.
God is not limited by location. He is not restricted by history. He can use any place to protect His purpose.
Sometimes safety is not found in open spaces but in secret places. Psalm 91 declares that those who dwell in the secret place abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Some of you thought obedience would take you somewhere glamorous. Instead, God moved you somewhere quiet. Somewhere hidden. Somewhere uncomfortable.
But preservation is more important than popularity.
Like a storm cellar during a tornado, the place may not look impressive, but it saves lives. Some seasons do not look like progress, but they are preservation. Some assignments do not feel like advancement, but they are alignment.
Do not despise the unlikely place. It may be the very thing God is using to keep you alive.
POINT III: GOD PROVIDES SAFETY EVEN WHEN OTHERS SUFFER
(Matthew 2:16–18; Isaiah 55:8–9)
Herod orders the slaughter of innocent children. Cries fill the streets. Mothers weep. And here is the hard truth: Jesus was spared, but others were not.
This is where shallow theology falls silent, but mature faith leans in.
God did not cause the violence. Evil flowed from Herod’s heart. Yet God protected His Son in the midst of human wickedness.
God’s protection does not deny pain.
It does not erase grief.
But God’s purpose is never defeated by suffering.
Jesus was preserved because redemption was still unfolding. The cross was still ahead. The resurrection was still coming. God will always protect what the future needs.
God’s protection is purposeful, not preferential. He covers according to calling. He shields according to destiny.
There are moments we cannot explain, but there is never a moment God has lost control.
CLOSING: SAFE IN HIS HANDS
Church, God does not bring you into the world without making provision to keep you in it. Jesus was not protected because He was lucky. He was protected because He was necessary.
But our ultimate safety was not secured in Bethlehem. It was sealed on Calvary.
There came a day when the Father did not spare the Son. No angel warned Him away. No Egypt hid Him. They nailed Him to a cross. He took our danger so we could have His deliverance. He embraced the cross so we could rest in grace.
And because He died, because He rose, because He reigns, we are safe.
Not safe from trouble, but safe in God.
Not sheltered from storms, but held in divine hands.
So praise Him for dangers you never saw. Thank Him for protection you did not deserve. And stand in this holy confidence knowing the testimony of the church still stands:
We are safe.
Safe by the Cross.
Safe by the blood.
Safe by His grace.
Safe in His hands.
