Faith Like Joseph

Hey Everyone,

So I don't know about you all, but the beginning of November is one of the most annoying times of the year for me. Beginning November 1, everyone thinks it's Christmas. You can call my a scrooge, but I am a firm believer that the Christmas season doesn't begin until November 25th. One month of constant Christmas music, feeling guilty every time you pass a salvation army bell ringer, and the constant reminder that you have to go shopping is plenty for me. I mean shoot, HyVee had a band come in and play carols all day on November 1st....bah humbug. So I figured if the rest of society can begin their Christmas season on November 1st, I could write a blog on November 16th dealing with the Christmas story.

One of the things I have been fortunate enough to do this semester, is to meet with a mentor on Wednesday mornings where we get together and dive deeper into our faith. A fun thing we decided to do was to choose a book in the New Testament and a book in the Old Testament, and read a chapter from them for each week. A few weeks ago the chapter we chose happened to be Matthew, chapter 1. As many of you know this chapter deals with Mary being impregnated by the Holy Spirit, and the angel of the Lord revealing himself to Joseph in a dream.

I feel fairly certain that about 90 percent, if not more of the American society knows the Christmas story. You know, the whole Mary being impregnated by the Holy Spirit, traveling to Bethlehem, and Jesus being born in a manger story where he is then visited by the three wise men. I left out a lot of important details, but you all get the gist of what I'm saying. One part of the story I feel that is often overlooked is Joseph's side of the story, especially his part of the story told in Matthew, chapter 1.

Now I want you all to think about this. Joseph was just a good ole boy living life the best he could, and was pledged to be married to Mary. Out of nowhere Mary suddenly becomes pregnant, and Joseph sure as heck knows it isn't his. I don't know about you all, but I would have been PISSED if I found out my bride to be was pregnant with someone else's baby. Yet Joseph, being the upstanding man that he was, had in mind to divorce her quietly so that she would not be publicly disgraced. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife for what had been conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit, and that someday that baby boy would someday save mankind.

Okay, if I were Joseph I would have woken up from that dream, had a great laugh (probably would have gone and told my buddies in the Union), and kicked Mary's butt to the curb. Now this is where the good stuff starts. Instead, in verse 24 it states, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." I want to emphasize, "When Joseph woke up." Talk about faith. I feel like every single one of us would have at least needed a few days to think this over, but no, Joseph straight up wakes up and does as he was commanded. I don't know about you, but that is a huge smack in the face to me! I can count numerous times in my life where I have felt called to do something, but I have let my fear take  a hold of me and make me doubt what I am supposed to do. Granted, Joseph did have an angel of the Lord appear to him in his dream, but still! Joseph was willing to sacrifice his pride and his reputation to marry a women that very well could have been killed for what had happened to her. Not only did Joseph have faith to do this, but he did it IMMEDIATELY upon waking up. What an act of faith.

After reading that verse I have been challenged to have faith like Joseph. What if when I felt God calling me to do something I just got up and did it? For that matter, what if we all had the faith of Joseph? I can tell you a lot of the decisions of my past would have been different. The little things that I worry about in my life are far inferior to the struggles that Joseph willingly accepted by stepping up to fulfill his calling. The road wasn't easy, but it was worth it. I hope this has been as encouraging to you all as it has been to me over the past few weeks. I know recently I have been dealing with a lot of faith issues in my life, but the constant reminder of Joseph and his story has really put things into perspective for me. Hope you all have a great rest of your week, and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Preston Sereg