January 5, 2026
The Answer When You’re Asking “What Now?”
ALICIA BRUXVOORT
Lee en español
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.” Luke 2:21 (NIV)
I can still see her 4-year-old frame dangling from the middle of the monkey bars — too far across the rungs to return to where she’d started but not close enough to the other side. My daughter’s confidence quaked.
“What now?” she muttered as her lips trembled and her arms began to shake.
It’s been years since that moment on the playground. But when my own life is hanging in the balance, I often find myself asking the question my daughter posed: What now?
Perhaps you’ve asked the same thing in your seasons of uncertainty or times of transition.
What now? You may wonder as the clamor of the holidays fades and the quiet of the new year looms ahead.
What now? You might ask as you seek freedom from painful habits, but healing feels out of reach.
What now? You may murmur as you surrender your steps to God, but the way forward seems obscure.
The what-now moments of life can make us feel like children hanging from the monkey bars. When we’re dangling between what has been and what’s to come, it’s easy for our hope to falter or our tenacity to tremble.
But as the Nativity story comes to a close in Luke 2, Mary and Joseph show us another way to respond.
With the hoopla of Jesus’ birth behind them, Mary and Joseph were in the in-between. The angels had returned to heaven. The shepherds had returned to their flocks. But Mary and Joseph couldn’t return to life as it was. The baby God sent to save the world had turned their world upside down. Their reputations were tarnished by those who didn’t understand the virgin birth, their family ties were likely strained, and their path forward was unclear.
However, instead of ruminating on what they didn’t know, Mary and Joseph named what they did know.
Luke 2:21 says, “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.”
The biblical concept of naming a child was rooted in the ancient understanding that a name expressed a person’s essence. To know someone’s name was to know their nature. And the name “Jesus” means “God saves.”
So when Mary and Joseph announced their newborn’s name, they weren’t just offering His identification. They were making a bold declaration: God had promised to redeem His people, and the wrinkled wonder in their arms was proof of His faithfulness.
Friends, the assurance Mary and Joseph declared long ago holds true for us today. Jesus is with us, and God’s Word never fails. When our hope hinges on Him, we can trust the certainty of God’s faithfulness over the comfort of clarity in every what-now moment we face.
Dear Jesus, my strength may waver, but Your faithfulness never will. Help me to place my trust in Your enduring promises, and awaken me to Your presence right where I am. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
OUR FAVORITE THINGS
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ENGAGE
Connect with Alicia on Instagram, or visit her website for a free download of promises you can cling to when life feels uncertain.
FOR DEEPER STUDY
Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (NIV).
2 Corinthians 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (NIV).
What promise from God’s Word is giving you hope right now? Share your thoughts in the comments.
© 2026 by Alicia Bruxvoort. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
P.O. Box 3189
Matthews, NC 28106
www.Proverbs31.org
