You’re In the Right Family!

“JOSEPH…WENT…TO…BETHLEHEM…BECAUSE HE WAS OF THE HOUSE…OF DAVID.” LUKE 2:4 AMP

Face it. There are times in life when we wish we’d been born into a different family. George Burns quipped, “Happiness is having a large, caring, close-knit family – in another city!” All joking aside, the family you’re in is no accident. God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…before you were born I [set you apart for a special purpose]” (Jer. 1:5 NKJV).

We tend to think of Jesus’ family only in terms of His heavenly Father. But He had a human family too; one that didn’t always understand Him. God used His family to mold Him and move Him towards His destiny, right down to where He would be born. “Joseph…went…to…Bethlehem…because he was from the family of David…While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby” (v. 4-6 NCV). Notice the words “the time came.” There’s no coincidence or confusion on God’s calendar. He plans our lives right down to the minutest detail. He says, “What I have planned, that will I do” (Isa 46:11 NIV). Jesus likely became a carpenter because that was Joseph’s trade. And because of His obligations as the oldest son, He probably waited till he was thirty to begin public ministry.

“What does this all mean to me?” you ask. Simply put: God will use your family to prepare you for the assignment He’s given you in life. He placed you there to shape you and make you more like Him – hopefully through godly role models and loving relationships. But even when you’re born into a dysfunctional, emotionally-distant family, He can still turn a curse into a blessing (See Deut. 23:5). So trust Him!