Reckless Obedience

We had a great morning at The Garage this past Saturday! Brandon brought his invention that helps with Fall yard clean-up. An ingenius set-up.

We also had a very good discussion on the topic of reckless obedience to God. We took a look at the life of Joseph, step-father of Jesus. The challenge of the day was to put ourselves in Joseph's sandals and take a look at the circumstances he encountered from his perspective.

He was a pretty ordinary guy who faced some extraordinary challenges in his life. First, his fiancee comes home after spending three months away and she is PREGNANT!! What had to be going through his mind? Can you imagine the exchange that took place between them?

"Mary, how could you? Who is he? Why would you? We are about to be married!!"

"Joseph, I've been faithful! HONEST! I'm pregnant by the power of God and am carrying the Savior of the world in my womb. This baby will save all mankind from their sins! Please, you have to believe me!"

"C'mon Mary! What kind of fool do you take me for! I think the best thing to do is to quietly end this relationship to avoid any further publice humiliation and start new lives APART from each other."

Let's be honest, guys. Joseph was no different than you or me. How would you have reacted?

And then, that night, he is visited by an angel as he slept. Can you imagine what further things had to be going through his head? The verbal exchange that had to have taken place between Joseph and the angel? The feeling Joseph must have had deep inside to simply cut his losses and run?

I mean, his reputation was shot. There would be no where he could go where the gossip wouldn't follow. Malicious tongues wagging. "Hey, there's Joseph, his fiancee is carrying another man's child!" How would he get his business back on track. Nazareth was a small town and gossip would travel fast. Would he be put out of the synagogue? And here is an angel saying "Go ahead, take Mary as your wife, because she really is pregnant by the power of God and the baby really is the Savior of all mankind."

So...regardless of what Joseph may have been feeling, he plunges ahead in reckless obedience to God, taking Mary as his wife, raising Jesus as his own, and leaving all the consequences of that decision in God's hands.

What is God calling you to do? Are you worried about what others will think if you step out in obedience to that call? Do you trust God enough to take the step of faith, to plunge recklessly into the deep waters of following God's direction and leave the consequences to Him? Are you ready to stop depending on your feelings and to place your faith and the outcome of your life squarely in the hands of God?