Mar 19 - "Joseph's Call"

"When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife..." --- Matthew 1:18-25
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In general, when considering the men in the Bible, there seems to be two types: those who push back from God's call, and those who take action immediately without question when He asks them to act.

We see plenty of examples where men, when in the presence of God, seem to fight with Him a bit over the course He is asking them to take. Consider these: Moses, who questioned whether he was the right man for the job; Jonah, who ran in the other direction when told to go to Ninevah; even Jesus, acting as a man would who is in great fear, asked if God "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me..." . Of course, these men ended up doing great things on behalf of God, but it sometimes took them awhile to get with the program.

On the other hand, think about those who took immediate action: Noah, who took on the work of, what appeared at the time, to be a crazy man; Abraham, who was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac without question; Samuel, David and Daniel who, even as boys, stepped forward without question to heed God's call. Joseph falls into the category of great men who, with the simplest faith, acted. Can you imagine the pressure which would have been upon Joseph to take a different course of action? You can tell he was a man of utmost honor because he was going to allow things to end quietly and without embarrassment to Mary or his family. Many men in the same situation would have chosen to end up on Jerry Springer, publicly calling out his "unfaithful" wife.

How often do we we heed God's call without question? You may say, "But God has never asked me to do anything...how can I answer His call to me?". Joseph was spoken to in a dream; not by God directly. Maybe God is calling you in a way that is much less direct than a burning bush, a booming voice from heaven or even an angel in a dream. Maybe he is calling you via a tough request from a friend for help; a committee member at church, needing extra hands; or even, being witness to some form of injustice or wrong that occurs in the course of your daily life. We often find ourselves...I know I do...thinking of excuses as to why we cannot or do not want to help in these situations.

So, think about what God may be calling you to do. Are you open to the call? Will you act without question or delay? When the call comes, in whatever form, we can show our faith in a simple "yes, I will help". Is it a scary? Yes. But, God will not ask for something we cannot do.