The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Tuesday
December 9, 2008
Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to
be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by
the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the
engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly. As he considered this,
he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
"Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with
your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy
Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins."
All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's
message through his prophet: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will
give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us)."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought
Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And
Joseph named him Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25
We cannot begin to imagine the pain in Joseph's heart on hearing that his beloved Mary was with child. Although common now, pregnancy outside of marriage in those days was unheard of; especially in Jewish families. So, with a broken heart, Joseph decided to let go and let God.
As he slept that night, Joseph received a visit from the realms of glory. He paid attention. He believed the dream – the vision – that God was about to do something miraculous in his life. How Joseph must have felt to love Mary to marry her, and yet allow her to remain a virgin until she gave birth! Talk about self-control!
When God impregnates us with His vision for our lives it is sometimes hard to share the vision with others. It often means that the people we share the truth with will be unable to accept it. I mean, after all Joseph was a simple carpenter, why would God use such humble means through which to bring the Savior of the world?
Joseph did what we all need to do when God gives us a vision – act immediately! When God gave me the vision for this ministry I acted immediately, unfortunately, I went to too many people for their "impression" on what the ministry should be. Therefore, I stayed pregnant with the vision for a long, long time.
Yes, there are certain aspects of the vision that will not come into place until it's time for the vision to be born, but there are other aspects that must be acted on immediately! Each step builds on the other. So, if God has given you a vision, take the first step and He will reveal the next step in His time.
Father, we thank You for using a simple man like Joseph to show us the importance of instant obedience. Help us to seek Your will and not the will of those around us. Help us pay attention to the vision and walk in it just as Joseph did with Mary. Although we may not have total understanding of what You want us to do, we are willing to believe You and act on Your Word to us.
