He did

We don't read much about Joseph the father of Jesus.  Apparently, he died before Jesus was crucified.  A lot has been said about the faith of Mary and rightly so.  I can't imagine how scary it was for her to become pregnant and to still be a virgin.  I can't imagine the jeers and the whispers she heard.  Then if that is not enough, she had to watch her innocent son be killed.

But Joseph's life isn't mentioned very much.  In Matthew1:19 it says that Joseph was faithful to the law.  When he found out Mary was pregnant, I can't imagine what was in his head.  Rather than get back at her, he was going to dissolve their engagement quietly.  If this happened today in the social media climate, I would imagine some of his friends would have had him post some tough stuff.

Yet, Joseph wanted to protect her.  He cared about her.  Then when he had a dream that explained how Mary got pregnant it all made sense.  However, only he knew that.  It wasn't like he could tell everyone on social media or the evening news that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.  When Joseph had the dream it says that when he woke up HE DID what the angel commanded him.  Joseph had a choice.  He chose to obey God. 

In Matthew 2 Joseph had another dream to take Mary and Jesus in the middle of the night and go to Eygpt.  In vs 14, it says "HE GOT UP."  In vs 21, he had another dream and was told to take his family back to Galilee.  The scripture says, "HE GOT UP."

Not much is written about Joseph.  But if all that was written about me is "HE DID" and "HE GOT UP" I'm good with that.  Obedience is why Joseph heard from God.  It is why God chose to place his son in the hands of Joseph.

Because I don't ask

Sometimes things are right in front of us and we don't see it.  I've heard in sales that what separates an average salesperson from a great one is that the great one's ask for the sale.  God wants to give us the best.  I wonder how many times I limit God by my small mindset?  I convince myself that what I'm praying for is not that important.  I make the decision for God without even asking.  James 4:2b-3 says.

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

I could care less about getting rich.  I didn't get into vocational ministry to make money.  But God has given me a dream.  It has been stuck in my head for almost 4 years.  It hasn't happened.  Was that dream just indigestion?  Or have I just said that my request is not important to God?  It is a God-sized dream.  It is something that I have no way of doing on my own.  Maybe I'm the problem.  Maybe I just ask with the wrong motives.  My dream has nothing to do with money.  So it isn't to get rich.  I'm asking God today.  I'm not sure how much I believe.  But God helps those with just a little faith.  That is all I have.

Causing others to sin

Jesus talked about the consequences of causing others to sin in the New Testament.  But it wasn't a New Testament problem exclusively.  Hosea talked about this in Hosea 4:5-7 (NIV)

You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you.  So I will destroy your mother-my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.  “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the lawl of your God, I also will ignore your children.  The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.

 I don't think we take how our sins can cause others to sin seriously enough.  I pray that my life will draw people closer to Jesus rather than causing people to sin.  I'm reminded by that song by Sweet Comfort Band called You Led Me to Believe. 

You led me to believeAnd I followed everything you'd say and doYou led me to believeYou've changed your way of thinking nowBut I know what is trueAnd I will keep on holding onTo all the thingsYou led me to believe

I don't know the entire story behind the song but obviously, someone influential in the author becoming a Christian had walked away from their faith.  Thankfully, the author didn't turn his back on God.  I pray that nothing in my life will cause someone else to stumble.

Hurry up & wait!

I'm not by nature a person who likes to wait. I HATE being late for anything. I'd rather be an hour early than 5 minutes late. I'm not patient when it comes to God either. I wish He would answer my prayers when I want.

I was studying Genesis 40-41 on Joseph & after he was put in jail for something he didn't do. If that wasn't bad enough, God used Joseph to interpret the dreams of two of Pharaohs servants in jail. After Joseph gave a correct interpretation of the cubbearer, I'm certain Joseph was expecting to be out of jail within a few days if not a few weeks. But Joseph was stuck in jail waiting for 2 more years before the cupbearer remembered Joseph.

I can't imagine the despair that Joseph must have felt. I wonder if he thought God had forgotten him. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, wrongly accused of advances on his boss's wife & now forgotten after he did a giant favor.

I've never been in jail or had hardships anywhere near what Joseph endured. But I have been wrongly accused. I've been forgotten. I've wondered why God has answered my prayers. But He did answered my prayers just not like I wanted Him to. My lack of patience has caused undo worry & probably delayed in learning what God  was trying to teach me.

I think too many of us who follow Jesus want a magic Jeanie or instant answers. That isn't how God works. He is more interested in our development than our wants. That's not easy to do for many of us.  I encounter people who give up on God because they feel He has given up on them. The truth is God cares too much about us to give up on us. He just has something He is trying to teach us. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were facing being thrown in a firery furnace. They believed God was going to save them. But they said "even if He does not" they would still worship God. I wonder if we truly live that way today?