Listen

When his parents saw him, they were shocked.

His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house.” But they didn’t understand what he said to them.

Luke 2:48-50

Think

Mary and Joseph were confused and frustrated when they found Jesus in the temple instead of traveling home. His response, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” probably didn’t make sense to them at the time. Yet Jesus knew he was following God’s plan.

Sometimes, life feels confusing. Maybe your family, teachers, or friends don’t fully understand what you’re going through. Maybe even you don’t understand why certain things happen. Like Jesus, you can trust that God has a purpose for your life, even when it’s unclear.

God sees the bigger picture of your life and invites you to trust God in the middle of the confusion. God is working through every situation to shape you into who you are called to be.

Today, take one thing you don’t understand and pray, asking God for peace and patience to trust God’s plan.

Nathaniel Aram Warne Adishian

Question to Ponder:

Looking back over the last few months, or even years, how have you seen God show up in ways that you could not have noticed in the moment?

Pray

Help me place my faith in you today, God. Faith that I have been fearfully and wonderfully made, and that you continue to shape me more into the image of your son, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Go

God chose us in advance to be shaped into the likeness of God’s Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Paraphrase of Romans 8:29