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Are you feeling like God has called you to do something that is way outside of your comfort zone? Do you find yourself in the midst of a situation that is far beyond your capability or understanding? Do you feel like God has just thrown you into the deep end of the pool? If so, you’re in good company. We see that occurring to men and women that God used throughout the Bible. Let’s look at one of them this week.
We read in the Gospel of Matthew that “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.”(1) The English translators did Joseph an injustice when they translated that particular passage, because ALL of the wise men were not gone. The magi may have departed, but one wise man remained – and his name was Joseph. Over the course of Jesus’s earthly ministry, a number of men had the privilege of journeying with Him, but only one man had the unique privilege of journeying with Him as His earthly father.
Just as the Heavenly Father chose John the Baptist to be the forerunner of Jesus, and He chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus, He chose Joseph to be the earthly father of Jesus. Do not think that the Father chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus, and then left the selection for the role of earthly father up to Mary. God ordered the steps of this woman and this man to be the earthly parents of Jesus. He graced Joseph with the awesome privilege and responsibility of parenting the Son of Man.
Soon after our children were born, my wife and i, just like most of you, modified our wills to include a guardian for our children in the event something happened to us, and we could no longer care for them. i remember the process we went through in making that determination. We did not make it quickly or casually; we entered into it prayerfully and carefully. And i am certain that the Heavenly Father chose the earthly father for His Son with even greater deliberation! As a matter of fact, God created Joseph for that intended purpose.
There is much more written in Scripture about Mary than there is about Joseph. But knowing that God made Joseph for the purpose of parenting His only Son, there are certain aspects of his character that we can know with certainty. Repeatedly the earthly father allowed the Heavenly Father to guide and direct his steps. We see that demonstrated before the birth of Jesus when the angel of the Lord revealed in a dream to Joseph that the baby Mary carried within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We see Joseph’s responsiveness again demonstrated when God directed him to go to Egypt, and then two years later directed him to return to Nazareth.(2)
In each instance, Joseph knew the voice of God, then he obeyed the voice of God. There is no record that he ever questioned or debated the word of the Father; he heard, and he obeyed. Even when i am sure he did not understand – there had never been a baby born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit, and neither has there been since. But Joseph didn’t keep asking questions until he understood – he just obeyed. The Father said it; that settled it! He knew God; he knew His voice and he obeyed Him.
Joseph was a man of conviction. When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, before he had heard from the angel of the Lord, he intended to break their engagement because he could not be a party to anything that dishonored God. But he was also a man of compassion. He had chosen to break their engagement in a manner that would not bring public shame or humiliation to Mary. He was prepared to be honorable, even when, according to the world’s standard, he had been dishonored.
And he was a man of courage. He disregarded the ridicule of those who assumed the worst about Mary’s pregnancy. He protected his Son from the plot of Herod by leaving his lifetime home and livelihood in Galilee and starting over again in a foreign place. Custom and tradition would tell us that Joseph was probably in his middle-aged years, if not his later years, and Mary was in her early teens when the two of them were betrothed. (Sorry to have shattered the mental image you may have had of them as a young newlywed couple). So Joseph was walking away from everything he owned (albeit the meager lot that it was) and everything he knew, for the sake of his family and in obedience to the Father. But he could do that, because Joseph was a man of confidence – confidence in GOD.
The Father is calling us to be men and women who walk with the Son with that same conviction, compassion, courage and confidence. And it is most often in the midst of the unknown and the situations outside of our comfort zone, where He grows us in those areas. Even the Son needed a father - and the father, like you and me, definitely needed the Son! In the same way the Father worked through Joseph to fulfill His purpose through the Son, so does He intend to do so through us. You didn’t choose Him, He chose you. Whether you are in your teen years like Mary or your later years like Joseph, He has an assignment for you right where He has placed you. Heed His invitation to walk with Him … with conviction … with compassion … with courage … and with confidence.
One more thing: This week i am releasing the first book in my newest series, The Called. The book is entitled A Carpenter Called Joseph. It is a story about Joseph, written in first-person – from his early days before meeting Mary through the final days of his life. Fictional elements have been added to the factual story where Scripture is silent so that we might explore what his life journey could have looked like beyond the specific events we are told about. My hope is that you will recognize the ways God works through all of our experiences – those that are well known to others, as well as those that are hidden from view. God uses it all – in and through us – to further His mission -- and bring glory to His name. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy of the book.
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This post is adapted from Walking With The Master, chapter 4, entitled “The Son Needed A Father.” This fourth book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print or for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy of the book.
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(1) Matthew 2:13 (NLT)
(2) Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 (NLT)
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child." That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt." …When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him, "Get up and take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead." So Joseph returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid. Then, in another dream, he was warned to go to Galilee. So they went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets concerning the Messiah: "He will be called a Nazarene."
Copyright © 2021 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Illustration by Scott Campbell