Joseph’s Faith

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. Luke 2:4 ESV

Often I lie awake the night before a trip turning over in my mind whether we have enough food, clothing, and money for the days ahead.

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Amazingly in spite of so many things Joseph and Mary could have worried about, we don’t hear one single complaint from either one of them.  The Bible is quite clear that they were not  super-heroes, just ordinary people who put their trust in God. We often hear about Mary’s faith as she accepted God’s call, but Joseph had his own questions which he chose to answer by faith. Joseph had to decide if Mary was the right woman to marry. Later as he and Mary gathered their belongings for Bethlehem, he also had practical concerns to deal with. How would they safely bring their tax money along roadways where thieves laid in wait? Who would give them a place to stay? Should they return to Nazareth or make a new life in Bethlehem? Yet as they traveled together on a difficult road he went in faith because he had taken his questions and fears to God.

In what ways are you fearful about your future today? Do you wrestle with some doubts about God’s plan for your life? If you long to travel boldly on first bring God all your questions and then trust His answers. God knows the why and where of the road ahead. Trust Him with your doubts and run to Him with your fears. God has not chosen you because you are a super hero but because you are ordinary and God loves plain ordinary people!

Our Greatest Need

Sometimes my biggest problem has been that I have assumed God was just like me only bigger and more powerful. But Jesus shows us time and again that God is nothing like us. He is never tired but He rests. He is never wrong but always humble. He is older than the earth but new every morning. Most of all God delights in listening even when He already knows what we will say! How ashamed I am of my own habit of often interrupting others and insisting on my own opinion when often I am wrong. How wonderfully patient and kind is our Father in Heaven. Why not tell Him all the truth always? He already knows before we speak even one single word!

What Time is It?

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Do you ever pray desperately for direction like I do? Does it feel as if everyone else knows where they belong and what they should be doing? But in our own lives it seems like we just muddle through. But in the muddling desperate efforts at trying to do what God has in mind I have discovered that I have somehow changed along the way. Relationships are more honest and deeper. Frustrating and confusing moments don’t leave behind half the anxieties they once did. Some way some how God is having His way.

I loved the quote I read from Joni Erickson Tada’s devotional book today: ” God’s answers and purposes have to be lived out to understand them” That is such a startlingly simple idea yet I had never seen it before. Yes it will take a lifetime to even begin to understand our amazing creator’s design. But how could it be different for the infinite and eternal God to have His way. He still loves and cares for us in the middle of our fumbling efforts He delights in those moments when we as His children reach up to take His hand!