The Invitation: Faith

The sun was beginning to set as the evening breeze whispered through the olive grove. Mary sat against the trunk of a small tree and smiled as she looked down at the name she had written in the sandy dirt: J-O-S-E-P-H. Mary quickly added her name under it and stared off into the glow of the sky as she thought of the man she was engaged to marry. “How strong and handsome, and skilled in his trade,” Mary thought. She looked so forward to marriage to such a good, noble man. She had been planning her wedding with her family for weeks and smiled at the thought of the look on Joseph’s face as she arrived wearing the wedding garments she had spent hours making and giggling over with her sisters. She dreamed of the days when Joseph would come home from his carpenter shop and how she would greet him with the aroma of the meal she would so lovingly prepare. Mary’s heart stirred deep within her as she hoped perhaps there would be a few days of privacy after the ceremony, maybe at some quiet seaside inn where she and Joseph would finally be alone to make their plans for the future. Plans for a home, a garden, even perhaps if God chose to bless them… a child. Plans for a life. Mary fondly smiled and recognized within herself the only activity she enjoyed more than being with Joseph was planning her life with him.

 Across the village in a small alcove over a carpenter’s shop, Joseph lay on his bed staring into the night sky through the window. He closed his eyes, and Mary’s image appeared before him. Joseph sighed contentedly as he felt the fatigue from a hard day’s work leave his tired limbs. He recounted step by step the plans for the table and the chest he was making for Mary as a wedding gift. How surprised Mary would be when his handmade treasures would be delivered. Joseph’s thoughts turned to the news he had heard in town today of a home that was for sale. The man said that with a little work, it would make a fine home for him and Mary. He could hardly wait to tell her! He opened his eyes, smiled at the crescent moon that tonight seemed to be smiling back. He prayed Yahweh would help him be a good husband and help him keep the promise he made always to provide and protect Mary. Joseph fell into a peaceful slumber, dreaming contentedly of plans for a bright future with his beautiful bride, Mary, at his side.

 Inside every human heart lies untold dreams and plans waiting and hoping to come to fruition. Though it was over 2,000years ago, Mary and Joseph were not much different than you and I. It was in the midst of some of their most exciting plans that God intervened, announcing He, too, had a plan. One that significantly differed from those conceived in olive groves and carpenter shops. There was no way for Mary to anticipate that her betrothal to Joseph would be overshadowed by scandal. Or that the honeymoon she once dreamed of would start in a place where a man would say, “you can have the room out back.” Then, there is Joseph, torn between a challenged faith, plagued by doubt, and facing the temptation to abandon his current circumstances. The table and chest unfinished would be left behind as he and Mary made their hasty retreat from the town. How in the world could he honor his promise to protect and provide when he was inexperienced as a midwife, and a simple manger would have to suffice as a cradle? On the other hand, Mary could not foresee the special honor that God would bestow on her and all the surpassing joy that would result when she set her own plans aside and yielded to God’s.

It would be beyond Joseph’s comprehension that God would raise him up to help fulfill the plan established from the beginning of redemption’s plan and that the Messiah, Himself, would be entrusted to his nurture and care. How could Joseph conceive of the confidence God would place on him to carry out such a task? 

 Two ordinary people with ordinary dreams became part of God’s extraordinary plan by saying, “Yes God; we will change our plan.” A plan that would not yield some short term temporary assignment but would change the course of their entire lives. The Psalmist tells us God’s ways are not our ways. Mary and Joseph, by their surrender, were able to receive the gift of faith that bridged the hap between their personal pursuits and God’s preferential plan. Both left personal dreams and unfinished plans to enter greater purpose and answered a higher calling. This Christmas, in the midst of our dreams and plans, a still small voice may call us to become part of something bigger God has planned. A plan that God promises will prosper us and bring us to a good end. If only our reply would be Mary’s…”Be it unto me, according to your plan.”