Have you ever looked at a situation only to see the cold grim face of relentless disappointments, one right after another? The odd thing about disappointments is that, they are only disappointments… if we meet them as just that, disappointments and not let them control or destroy us. We can learn to change those points of discouragements by seeing them as God sees them, not how they may appear to you, to be.As we think of Christmas time, many thoughts will pass through our minds, and as we relate this wonderful Holiday to the birth of our Savior, as well as spending time and enjoying the festivities throughout the month of December even into the New Year with joy and fun, let’s also take a moment and consider how each event that led up to Christ birth brought with it not only joy and hope, but trust and obedience to what God was to ask of one very important person!
While we often times will give much attention to some of the characters that were involved in making the nativity scene complete, like remembering Mary, the mother of baby Jesus, the shepherds and sheep, the star and the manger; let’s take a moment and think about the prelude to that delightful event.
At the beginning of this great story, there were some sad moments, short felt disappointments and possibly even discouragements along the way. This of course was before they all saw the baby and realized that God had worked His perfect plan and it all turned out to be good, even though they faced very difficult times and situations before they got to that place in the stable.
There was to be some testing’s that led up to the obedience that we now know and appreciate so much in the life of many of the characters that were involved. I would like to bring one of them to the for-front of this devotion today and that character was Joseph, the foster parent of Jesus. God chose and knew that He had placed that special call on the shoulders of the right one, and while Joseph was somewhat puzzled and left wondering for a short time, his call to obedience was never an issue. For while he might have been stunned upon first hearing that May was to be a mother before she was even a wife; it all soon gave way to Joseph seeking God’s will and plan for his and Mary’s grave situation.
Joseph, God’s pick as His Son’s earthly foster parent. He was a decedent of David, betrothed to Mary, the future mother of God’s only Son. This man Joseph can easily be identified with, in how he must have felt on several occasions of his life, as he was given some very shocking at first and somewhat disturbing news concerning his future and the plans that he was making . At one point he was looking forward to a life married to Mary, a bright and promising future, and the next was the shock that rocked his world. He found out that his betrothed and beloved Mary was with child and the child was not his own. That disappointment must have been overwhelming to him and from a human standpoint, anyone could understand the shock that he must have felt upon hearing the dreaded news as he realized or thought that he had been deceived by the one that he loved. The scripture speaks of Joseph as being a good and compassionate man. Matthew 1:19 says that “Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.”
For any plans that he had had for his life, was interrupted drastically, as God began to direct him with His own plans for Joseph and Mary upon the message from the angel and Joseph’s dreams. Joseph proved to be a man who would obey God without question. But at first he struggled with the news that Mary brought him.
We too are like Joseph, we make our plans and when things don’t go the way that fit into them, we become disappointed and discouraged. The scripture says in Proverbs 16:9 that "A man's heart devises his way: but the Lord directs his steps." This emphasizes the inability of man to do anything unless it is God's will. Man makes plans and devises what he wants to do or thinks he will do, but ultimately, it is only what God wills that happens.
We do need to make plans, and be diligent and organized. The apostle Paul made plans and was diligent and organized in seeking to carry them out, even if things did not turn out the way he had planned Rom 15:22-32. We also need to pray for God to bless our plans and works, to make sure that we involve Him. Isaiah 30:1-2 warns us about making plans without inquiring or consulting God first, before we carry them out. Christ has all authority in heaven and in earth Matthew 28:18, and He is working all things after the counsel of his own will Rom 8:28; Eph 1:11. God tells us to make request of Him in everything Phil. 4:6.
In Matthew chapter 1 upon hearing the news of Mary’s condition and even though Joseph was a good man, he doubted Mary and was confused about the situation because the scripture says that upon hearing the news he reasoned to go ahead and marry her so that she would not be disgraced, but then his plan was to divorce her quietly at a later date. You see he came up with his own plan. Then the scripture tells us that after he considered the situation in verse 20 an angel of the Lord appeared to Him.
The angel reminded him using God’s Word about what the prophet had said of the virgin birth. After that, Joseph understood and opted to obey. So many times we like Joseph, doubt because we don’t understand the plan. His plans for us are always found in His word. Just because we do not see them clearly at first, maybe we are not looking deeply enough for them. For the most part, we do like Isaiah 30 talks about…we can be obstinate children and make plans without considering God. Moreover, we make them and think because they are good plans, that God should bless them only to find out that God is trying to direct us in another way.
Oh sweet friend, even today I found myself in the same place as Joseph….and I knew because of my past walk in Christ and the promises that He gives me in His Word that following Him and doing it His way is and will be the best way for me to take.
For Joseph, he made the right decision for himself and everyone else. Let us learn from him, that God may instantly change the planned direction of our life; And to readily obey the Lord is to be included, for eternity, in God’s Kingdom for all who do it His way! And as we take those steps of obedience in faith, God will honor them and will continue to guide us, no matter what His plan may ask of us. He is faithful and can be trusted no matter how bad the situation may look at first glance!
Loving you today…..
Bren
