Joseph

Today in church, we talked about Joseph. That may seem unusual, seeing as how Christmas is around the corner and usually the focus is on Jesus or maybe Mary. But, it was cool. Scott shared what the Lord had pointed out to him about Joseph's character and attitude in the midst of all that happened.
I thought I'd share my ideas on this subject.
Joseph was just a guy who was living life. He was a carpenter who fell in love with a girl named Mary. Joe probably had a life plan - maybe build a good reputation as a carpenter, possibly start a business, build a home for himself and Mary and have a few kids.
Suddenly, he finds out that his fiancee is pregnant.
What? That probably scared the crap out of him. "What happened to my life plan? I didn't sign up for this." It's no wonder that he thought seriously about calling off the engagement. Her unexpected pregnancy threw a wrench in the works and sent his life careening off into the unknown. What now?
I heard a song this morning on the way to church. It was sung from Mary's perspective and she was praying that the Lord would tell Joseph what happened, to comfort Joe that everything was going to be okay and that God had a plan. Mary saw the tough road ahead of her and, although willing to obey the Lord, she wanted a partner in the journey. She wanted Joseph.
Hearing that song and then talking about Joseph in church today really brought the story to such a personal, human level.
Mary and Joe were just people. People who were living life, like me. Then suddenly God asks something really big from them. And they had to choose what to do. Run away scared or follow God (but still scared).
What struck me is how brave Joe was. Sure, Mary was really brave too. But, Joseph had to lay aside male pride and preconcieved ideas of what he wanted his life to look like. He had to answer the call of God to support God's call on Mary's life. He had to choose to become an earthly father to Jesus and raise him both lovingly and responsibly. Joseph had to humble himself and face the probable ridicule of marrying a girl who was already pregnant.
Also, as humans, we tend to believe that the plans we mock up for our lives are the best possible plans that exist. We may get a great education, start a business, move to a new city, get a fancy haircut, become famous...whatever it is...and we think that we are so clever. But, sometimes the Lord comes along and says, "How about instead of that plan, as good as it may seem, you follow this path over here."
At first, our natural response is to cringe. "But what about all my planning and work to get where I want to go in life, God???" He may just respond, "It was good stuff, sure. And it has brought you to this point where I was taking you. You just have no idea how much better my plan is. So, trust me, will you? I won't fail you."
I don't know about you, but I would have really struggled if I were in Mary or Joseph's shoes. I am a planner. I would have felt like God's "interruption" in my life completely took me off guard. But, ultimately, I have to believe that I'd rather do His thing. After all, it may have an impact on all of humanity.
Granted, my life will unlikely usher in such a pivotal change to human history as Mary's or Joseph's did. I'm not about to give birth to the Son of God. But, as Scott said this morning, the Lord is asking each of us to bring Jesus to the world...even if the "world" is simply my neighborhood.

God, please help me to respond like Mary and Joseph did. "Here I am, Lord, Your servant."