Wow, it’s hard to believe that Christmas is just over 3 weeks away, even in a pandemic-crazed year, time flies!

I find it helpful to try to get into a reflective mode about Christmas now, as it has barely started. If I wait until it”gets going” the season is over before I know it and I’ve barely noticed.

So…looking back on that first Christmas…join me in being in awe of who I’ll call “Christmas heroes.” Keep in mind that the people of that first Christmas did NOT have the whole story…they didn’t know how it would all turn out, or even if what they sensed were miraculous events were just that.

Take Joseph. He was probably in his late teen years, engaged to the girl of his dreams (or quite possibly of his parents’ arranging), and then…BAM, she drops this far-fetched bomb on him. “Joseph, I’m pregnant, and the father is God Almighty.”

How would you handle that? How would you respond? I’m afraid I’d handle it poorly, certainly not with the courage, faith and trust of young Joseph. An angel appeared to him in a dream, and rather than talking himself out of it (probably the Stan-thing I would do), he trusted God, and obediently took Mary as his wife.

Go ahead and read the incredible decisions of this young man in the Bible, in Matthew 1:18-25.

I’m amazed by young Joseph. At the point of his obedient choice, there were no angels yet, no wise men, and no shepherds! Just Mary, an unbelievable story, and the most unique dream he had in his life…and…a willingness to trust God in and through circumstances he never saw before, nor would he see again.

Let this young Christmas hero compel you to trust God, in this year (2020) that brought circumstances we’ve never seen before. As Joseph trusted and obeyed God through the unknown, resolve to do the same. Choose peace in the midst of uncertainty. Choose joy in response to the unknown. Jesus didn’t come because everything was right in the world…quite the opposite, Jesus came because the world needed a savior. It still does.

Side Note: If you are looking for a great Christmas gift for a child in your life, check out the book I wrote called “Who Am I” Parents and grandparents love it, and kids have actually thanked me for writing it. It is a fun way to teach kids about the everyday heroes of the Bible; men and women of every age who showed what life looks like when you trust God. View book on Amazon.com here.