“But after he had considered this (divorcing Mary quietly) an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20
My wife Katie is an artistic wonder. What she sees in her head I can’t even imagine in mine. What I see as a box of stuff becomes, in her eyes and hands, beautiful Christmas WOW! Because of HER talent, I have moved myself into the position of ‘fetcher!’ I fetch it, she finesses it! But because she has been so busy lately, I wanted to take some of the load off of her. Turning thought into action, yesterday, was when ‘Dec-irration’ began.
Setting up the Christmas tree, the next step was the lights. Katie usually places them so they’re ‘even.’ There are some specialty ‘bubble’ and ‘Santa’ light strings she weaves into the mix as well! Convincing myself I could do it…the lights came out of the box!
I was careful, placing and stepping back to look at the progress. It was going well…until halfway through, when I got to ‘the bubble lights!’ Suddenly the strand untangled and hit the floor where one light shattered at my feet. With it went my hope, mission and confidence! Yes, it was that big of a deal to me. For some reason, I couldn’t help but think about Joseph!
Look at the cast of characters Joe is lumped in with in this verse! He’s got an angel, ultra GREAT Grampa David, Mary and the Holy Spirit! Talk about PRESSURE!? Add to them his standing in the community, wedding jitters and pressure from work! How could he POSSIBLY expect to measure up? With broken lights at my feet, I experienced only a small taste of what He had!
God uses people! It is His method! After the creation and fall of Adam and Eve, He determined that MEN and WOMEN were going to be His method of changing the world BACK to Himself. And Joseph was the PERFECT picture of the kind of ‘earthly’ father God wanted for His only Son Jesus! I have no doubt Joseph was scared out of his mind! But God!
I am not a genius, a wonder, an example or even a kind of person anyone would want to hang up as an illustration for ‘Greatness!’ But God tells me, now that I have His son,”I” am the ‘Light of the World (Matthew 5:14)!’ Talk about PRESSURE!? But then… if YOU love Jesus Christ as YOUR Savior and Lord…SO ARE YOU!
After being down for a while, God’s encouragement set in to press me to try again. I was determined to get the job done regardless, and even asked Him for His help. Because NOW, it was PERSONAL! When Katie got home she was surprised! After shouting “WOW,’” she added…”It looks SOOOOOOO GOOD!” Yup!!! She said that!
No matter WHO you are or how talented you may be, God can do MAGNIFICENT things with lil ol you…when you LET HIM! Shine on!
