Sunday, December 30, 2007

Finding the Will of God Christmas Style

When I look at the narrative of Joseph (and Mary) in the Christmas story an interesting means of discerning God's will emerges. Joseph becomes aware of his fiancee's pregnancy (and implied immorality) and "he decided to divorce her privately not wishing to cause her shame." I infer that Joseph was making a decision based on his being a "good man" (Matthew1). His decision was founded on grace. He didn't want to cause her shame (the NASB reads 'disgrace'). He was not deciding to divorce her due to vindictiveness or anger. In fact, clearly he based his decision on God's Word (the allowance that Moses made for people so that they could divorce). He seems to have logically interpreted the Scripture and was moving toward action based on that logic. In summary Joseph was about to make a difficult decision based on grace, common sense and Scripture. Wow! He had to be on the right track ( I wish I could more often make decisions based on grace, common sense and Scripture). Except he was about to go against God's will.
God did intervene and redirected Joseph's decision clearly, aligning it with the revelation that Mary had received and the revelation of an ancient prophet (Isaiah). So God's plan was consistent and in place from centuries before and He made it clear to those who were faithful.
Mary's example adds to my understanding. She hears the good news (that will mean a considerable amount of bad news in her life) and yet she welcomes the Word of God, saying, "Be it done to me according to all that you (the angel Gabriel) have said."
I conclude that although we should make decisions based on grace, common sense and Scripture that does not guarantee that we will always make the correct decision. It is still important to recognize human weakness within us and seek a clear directive (conviction?) from God, always welcoming the Word of God and its principles into our lives.

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