A GIFT FOR ALL SEASONS

He is a forgotten man.

His role in history was significant, yet little is known about him and little is made of him. He is almost like an "extra" in a cast of famous characters. There are no religions built around him as was the case with his wife. He was never cannonized, or made a "saint".

He was of royal lineage, being a descendent of King David, yet he was a poor man by Bethlehem standards, as he only had 2 turtledoves to offer at the time of sacrifice...the lowest of offerings accepted.

When time came for he and his wife to go to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, he could not afford a suite at the Bethlehem Hilton. Instead, he was grateful for a warm dry stable for them to spend the night in as she was expecting her first child and the time of delivery was imminent.

No, he was not royalty. He was a simple carpenter. His name was Joseph.

In the CHRISTmas story, Mary gets all the notice....and all well deserved. But what about Joseph? Joseph's role was certainly significant too. After all, he was just as chosen to be Jesus's earthly father as Mary was to be his mother. No....an angel did not appear to him and call him out, nonetheless, he was handpicked by God for this extremely important role.

Joseph would be the one the little boy would look up to, the one He would follow around the carpenter shop, trying to hammer nails into scraps of wood. He would be the one Jesus would call "Abba". He would take him to the synagogue where the scriptures would be read and he would teach him about His Heavenly Father.

Joseph was obedient to His Father. When the angels appeared to him in a dream, telling him it was ok to take Mary for his wife, he obeyed. Most of us gloss over that when reading the CHRISTmas story. However, we do not realize what it must have cost Joseph to do that.

His wife-to-be was pregnant and she was not yet officially married. By Hebrew law, she could be stoned. Joseph wielded the power to have her stoned or to give her a bill of divorcement. His nature is revealed when scripture tells us that "he had a mind to put her away privately". But, after the angel appeared to him, he was to take her as his wife...."marry her but not know her intimately until she gave birth" (Matt. 1: 24, 25) Can you imagine what the townspeople must have said? Can you imagine the ridicule he must have endured to take this tainted woman as his bride? For surely no one believed her incredible story that she was with child by the Holy Spirit!!! Would YOU have believed her?!

I think Joseph really loved Mary. It could have been a pre-arranged marriage...the Bible does not really provide us with those details. But for him to have wanted to "put her away privately" tells me that Joseph was kind and that although he must have been terribly hurt by the news that she was pregnant, he did not want to harm her in any way...and that was BEFORE the angel appeared to him. His heart was tender toward her. He thought more of her than he did himself.
His love "suffered long and was kind." It was not selfish, nor easily provoked, not conceited or boastful. It bore a lot. It rejoiced in the real truth. He loved her with God's love. (I Cor. 13)

Joseph was the one who delivered Mary's baby...the very Son of God. He heard His first cry. He held him first. He provided for Him. He protected Him, again listening and obeying as the angel warned him in a dream to flee Herod.

Yes, Joseph is forgotten by many.....but NOT by God. God used Joseph in the life of Jesus in many different ways. But he was not there by accident. God chose Joseph to be Jesus's earthly father.

God also chose you and me to play the roles He has assigned to us. I am not my husband's wife by accident. God chose us for each other. I am not mother to my son and daughter by accident...God chose me to be their mother. I have a role to play in their lives and the most important thing I can do is to listen to my Heavenly Father, so that I, like Joseph, might be obedient in fulfilling the destiny He had for me from the foundation of the world. I might be insignificant on planet earth, but to God I have a purpose that only I can fulfill. However, I cannot fulfill it with out Him.

What is the role God has called YOU to? Are you trusting Him today to help you live out His plans for you, or are you fighting Him all the way? How different would the CHRISTmas story be today had Joseph refused to obey God? What if he had said he wanted no part of Mary? What would he have missed? It was not an easy role for him. He undoubtedly suffered much ridicule and hardship because of it. Yet he got to be a part of bringing the Son of God into the world, to hold Him in his arms, to cuddle Him close, to sing to Him, to teach Him to talk and how to hold a hammer and how to make a table. He walked with Him on a daily basis. Look at the blessings he would have missed had he said 'No' to God. What blessings will you miss if you say 'NO'?

WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?

This morning in my quiet time, I asked God to speak in our worship today. And speak He did! Our pastor has been preaching a series on Nehemiah and rebuilding the broken walls in our life. Today he was focusing on the plans and preparation that Nehemiah made before undertaking his project. He challenged us to seek God's plan, God's vision for our life at whatever stage we were in and then to begin to plan and prepare to carry it out. Like the saying goes..."if you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

So my mind took off! Last month in our Christian Writers Circle one of our guest speakers said that if our dream was to write, then to keep the dream alive you must have someone to share your dream and be your cheerleader or support person along the way.

All of these thoughts center around one thing: what is your dream and what are you doing to live out that dream? Or, put another way, what on earth are you here for??????

Most people seem to find themselves just plodding through their daily life, just trying to survive.
When I was a kid and I called my mother at work, I'd ask "Whatcha doing?" She always gave the same reply "trying to make eight" (just trying to get in her eight hours so she could come home). How many of you are just "trying to make eight" or twelve or twenty four? Or said another way....how many of us are just killing time til time kills us?

If you are in your twenties or thirties, you are probably trying to get your career off the ground and possibly starting your family. As the kids grow and get more involved, the crazier life becomes. You may feel that you don't even have time to dream, that all you can do is figure out how the bills are going to get paid, who is taking which kid to which activity at what time and cleaning up the messes everyone leaves behind.

If you are in your 40's or 50's, you are probably getting tired of the rat race and may even begin to feel like the rats are winning! Maybe your dreams for what you thought your life would be like have not turned out exactly as you had planned when you were in college. The dream job is not as "dreamy" as you thought it would be and the people you are working with are anything but dreamboats. Maybe your dream mate isn't quite as dreamy as he or she was when you fell in love. A few more pounds have been added, a few more gray hairs, too much work, too many demands, too many responsibilities and very little romance have dimmed the flame that once burned so passionately. Not quite what you imagined married life would be.

Maybe those sweet babies have become obnoxious teens and you are worried about how they are going to turn out. Or worse, maybe they have left home and gotten into things you prayed that they never would. How did all this happen?

Or maybe you are nearing retirement and what you always thought would be the time you'd FINALLY get to relax and enjoy a time to travel or do things you'd always looked forward to doing is instead a time of multiple health problems or you've lost the spouse you had always seen yourself spending retirement with. You are alone and life has lost its joy. Maybe financial problems are looming as you realize that you may not have enough to live on in these later years.

Sound like gloom and doom? Well, it doesn't have to be that way. The good news is that God says He has a plan for our lives...a good plan...a plan to give us a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) So the question is how do we get there?

I think we must realize first that we need to consciously SEEK that plan! I think sometimes we miss the plan because we are looking for something that it isn't. For instance, if you are a young mother at home with two or three small children, you have about all you can handle. You don't have time to"dream". But think about it. For this season of your life, maybe this IS the plan. Those children and that home and that husband IS your mission in life! I truly believe with all my heart there is no higher calling in life than to be a mother. You have the awesome responsibility and privilege of pouring good things into the lives of those young impressionable little people. They are watching your every move, listening to your every word. They are wet cement and the imprints you are making upon their lives during these foundational years will last a lifetime. What could be more important than that? To teach them about Jesus. To teach them His word. To show them how a person follows Jesus. As you are taking care of your home, your are providing a safe haven for them and a place of refuge for your husband when he returns from "slaying the dragons" all day. You are there to encourage him, to be his cheerleader and to share life and his dreams with him. All of those things are very important and no one else in his life can do them like you. God wants to use you in his life "at this season" of your marriage. Don't go looking for the Hollywood version of marriage and family life. Seek how God wants to use you right now in the midst of your plain, ordinary life!

Maybe you see your career as boring or as just a job to provide an income to put food on the table and a roof over your head. Nothing exciting. But God has provided you that job. He has placed you there at THIS time for a purpose and with THOSE people for a reason! You are there for "such a time as this". Don't waste it! Ask God how He can use you there and how you can make a difference until He chooses to move you elsewhere.

How about your neighborhood? What are you doing to impact the people who live around you? Have you made any efforts to get to know them? You don't have to beat them over the head with your Bible. Just love them, care about them, reach out to them when they have a need and be a good neighbor. Then wait for God to open the door for you to be JESUS to them!

So you're retired now. What are you doing for the Kingdom? You have all this extra time on your hands. How are your using it for Him? Are you involved in any ministries at your church? Are you reaching out to anyone with the hands and feet of Jesus? Or are you just playing around with your hobbies, "killing time til time kills you"? There was a widely publicized article in recent years that circulated about a couple who made a lot of money, took early retirement and bought a house on the seashore just to spend their days collecting seashells! Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the beach and I enjoy collecting seashells as much as anyone. BUT....there is more to life than that! And lest you think "Well, they are retired. They've worked hard all of their life and they've earned the right to do nothing but collect seashells." I challenge you to find in scripture where it says God has a social security plan! On the contrary, I believe God expects us to be living for Him right up until we draw our last breath.

I challenge you today, at whatever season you are in, to stop for just a few seconds after you read this devotional and ask God "What is YOUR vision for me right here, today, in the season of life I'm in?" And don't quit asking til you get an answer! Once you determine what He desires of you, then begin to plan and prepare HOW you are going to accomplish that vision. God does not have plans just for a select few. He has plans for each of His children and that includes YOU! What is His vision for YOU?