Trusting God

Scripture Readings: 

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 

23  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 

and they shall call his name Immanuel” 

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Commentary: 

Trusting God (Tre Wiggins)

Have you ever had trouble trusting God? I’m sure you have. It tends to be part of human nature to doubt God and what He is capable of. We may see God do something wonderful in our lives, and then before long we are back to second-guessing Him and what He’s called us to obedience in. We sheepishly revert back to trusting more in ourselves.

Joseph and Mary were faced with a reality that you and I might find hard to trust God in. Mary would be with child, and this was without them “knowing” one another. Not only that, this child would be the Messiah, God in flesh coming to save His people from their sins. Not to mention that the form of communication of these facts came through a dream. If this was us, wouldn’t we be prone to saying, “I must have heard God wrong. After all, it was just a dream.” Or, at least we would hope it would be! You might even try to get back to sleep after waking up to try to escape from a reality like that! 

However, they didn’t. Their (coming) marriage sure didn’t start out like they thought it would. God tends to do things in that way. He takes what we think or imagine things will be like, and He fashions a new reality for us, one that will bring Him the most glory. What could be more glorifying to God than Jesus Christ coming to the world to be the sacrifice for sins? Joseph and Mary trusted God. We know they trusted Him, because they acted on the command of the angel of the Lord. The test of our faith today might be, “do we trust Him?” If we do, we’ll act on what we know to be true of Him. 

Prayer & Reflection: 

God, help me to trust you in greater measure today. I will be tempted to pursue all I have to do today in my own strength. But, you’ve created me anew to live in light of Your glory. You have promised that Your Spirit would be with me, and work through me. I’m trusting you today to do just that!