Obeying when it is Difficult
Notes
Transcript
There are times and season where it is difficult or challenging to obey the Lord.
I remember the challenge when we had a thriving thrift store and we went to purchase the building we were in and I was told you can’t purchase it because Dollar General was buying the building. Our thrift store was homeless for over 2 months before God opened the door for us to purchase the village.
After purchasing the Village it was a challenge to obey and say we would turn the house into a thrift store.
It can be difficult to obey when you are facing challenges with your children and you keep asking God why he has not answered your prayer for your kids in the way you want him to answer it. It’s hard to just say yes God I will obey what you want.
It can be difficulty to obey God when you are in a financial crisis. You are praying for God to answer the prayer and he has not come through for you yet. In the crisis, God ask you to continue to give a tithe to him and yet you are struggling.
(Looking at the tithe we give a month)
Recently I was visiting with Amanda Sage after she got back from a mission trip with CofO to Uganda. She was sharing with me she was there to help build out a college much like College of the Ozarks. She was there working the ground and preparing for the College to be built. While she was there, she kept asking everyone around her who was going to come teach at the College. Everyone kept saying we don’t know who that is but God will send someone. This process repeated through out her time there. She would ask who was coming to teach and the response was the same. God will send someone.
Amanda shared with me that at one point after asking the question she felt as though God had answered the prayer of who to send and the person that was supposed to teach at the school was her. She called and shared with her husband Jared that this was what she was feeling and his response was do you want me to sell everything here and meet you over there.
They were there in August
They leave for Uganda next week
She will come back to teach next semester
Jared will not come back
After Adeline’s wedding she will head back
So many challenges they are facing as they seek to obey the Lord
At the end of this service, I want to invite them up to pray over them.
Matthew 1. I want you to see the story of Joseph. I want you to see his response even when life gets difficult or challenging.
(Pray)
18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Joseph
Many of us our familiar with Mary. She gets a lot of air time in scripture and in culture. Joseph on the other hand we don’t know a whole lot about.
He was probably a young man although we don’t know because scripture does not tell us.
We know he was a carpenter (Matt 13:55)
A righteous and faithful man (Matt 1:19)
Descendent of David (Matt 1:20, Luke 2:4)
Mary’s husband (Matt 1:16)
Jesus’ earthly father (Matt 13:55, Luke 3:23, John 1:45)
Many scholars believe that Joseph died early in life.
The last time he is mentioned is when Jesus is 12 years of age, and then he seems to disappear from the story.
And most scholars believe that he most likely died, because they would not have likely divorced, and that probably would've been mentioned, and that Jesus stayed at home until he was 30.
It was actually tradition to stay at the house of your mom if she was a widow until you were 30.
We also know that whenever Jesus was on the cross, he looked to the beloved John and said essentially, "Would you take care of my mom? This is my mother. Would you take care of her?" And I believe she was probably a widow, because he said that.
18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Mary had been engaged to Joseph. In there culture, engagement was a binding document. It was more formal than the engagements we see in our culture. If you were engaged, then you were legally married but you were not to consummate the marriage until the formal public ceremony.
So when we read they were engaged then they were married but they were not to engage in the gift of love making.
Mary comes to Joseph with this news that she is pregnant!
If Mary had sex with another man this is a life ruining challenge.
This would mean Mary disobeyed God
Dishonored her family
Was a disgrace to Joseph
According to Deuteronomy 22—Joseph could have her stoned.
what was more Common—Bring b4 city council—Shame publicly—Clear name.
After this would take place the woman would then be in a position where she would begin to give her body away in order to support herself.
Joseph is in a difficult position. Things are really sticky here.
19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
At one of the most difficult moments in Joseph’s life it was about become one of the most holiest moments in his life.
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.
Don’t be afraid
The most repeated phrase in the Bible is this phrase.
This morning we are talking about obeying when it’s difficult and the most common phrase in the Bible is Don’t be afraid or fear not!
Think back to the beginning of scripture. The garden is a place of peace and before the fall of man it is a place where fear does not exist.
As I dream of New Jerusalem and the Second Coming of Christ it excites me to think of a place where fear is not present.
When it’s difficult to Obey fear not, when God says it’s time to give up addiction and put the bottle down fear not, when money is tight and God is instructing you to give, fear not, when you are battling sickness and God keeps calling you forward, fear not, when parenting is challenging, fear not!
Joseph don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Look at Joseph’s response to this
Notice what Joseph didn’t do
Didn’t explain away—Just dream.
Didn’t argue w/ God—Not fair.
Didn’t ask for 2ndSign?
Didn’t ask for clarifying details? (v 24)
24 When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her
You don’t have to understand completely to obey immediately
Craig Groeschel
I think about the locker room talk that Joseph might have faced. Guys saying man look at Jo. Look at him. His wife is pregnant before they got married and he is saying it is from the Holy Spirit.
What kind of man is he to remain faithful to his wife who might have cheated on him. That guy is dreaming. He is crazy!!
I can’t believe our guy Joseph would do this. I thought his parents raised him differently than that. There is no way he really believes this. There is no way God would let Joseph go through something like this. This can’t be the Lord.
When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her.
I like Joseph as role model and one to follow but in this set of scripture one greater than Joseph is all over this.
I intentionally skipped 2 verses.
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
700 years before Joseph gets his instruction our faithful God is sharing His plan.
This is before the internet
Before chat GPT
700 years. I only knew one of my great grandparents and that might span 200 years. Can anyone name a great great great great great great grandparent from 700 years ago?
Probably not. So God in His goodness 700 years before Jesus is born gives us this promise.
And God in His goodness and faithfulness 700 years later fulfills this promise!
You want to know why you can obey? Because God is faithful