Nate Weaver, a friend and Triad-ian, on our way to Michigan this past week, made an interesting observation about the account of Joseph in the first chapter of Matthew.
Here’s the account:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.
When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Here’s the observation:
Joseph’s plan was a good one. He could have approached the priest and had Mary stoned to death, by law. But since he was a good, righteous man, he desired to do what was good and right, and save Mary from public disgrace and end the betrothal quietly. That was his plan. But God had a different plan, completely different that what Joseph had planned. Here’s the thing: Joseph wasn’t wrong, his motives were pure. His plan was good, it was right…he was going to do a good and right thing. But it wasn’t God’s plan.
The more I thought about this the more it showed me an area of weakness in my life. So often I try to do the right thing, to do good thing. But I don’t take the time to check if it’s what God wants. Most recent example was my trip to Grand Haven. It was a good thing, for me, my wife, some friends and the relationships made during my internship. It was a right thing, there was nothing wrong with it. But as I reflect, I never checked with God to see if this was a step I should take. But more importantly, I didn’t check why I was doing it. Turns out the reason I went was all for me. Purely our of self. I missed my friends, I missed Watermark, I missed the kids, I missed my mentor, I missed G&L, I missed Diet Coke…all of it was about what I missed and taking care of my need. Maybe this was part of God’s plan, that I should go to GH, I mean great things came from it, but if I would have checked it out with the Father first, I may have seen that my motives were impure, experienced change and approached the weekend to serve and give rather than be served and receive.
Here’s the boiled down lesson:
there is a affirming quality, a deceptiveness that is found when we serve ourselves. Our plans are good, and right, and we see nothing sinful or improper about them, so we implement them. And the desired results of the plan come to fruition and we leave feeling that God has blessed our plan. We are deceived. Let’s allow God to work through us, rather than in spite. Let’s move to permit God to act preemptively rather than reactively. Check it out with him, and really get a hold of the “blessed plan” and avoid the affirming deceptiveness of self-servitude.
I hope this makes sense to more people than I, but at the same time, I’m so glad that I have learned from it. It really takes me to the Throne on a deeper level.
Checkin’ in to the hotel of surrender
Roach out.
