Are you listening? That’s the question. If we want to know and follow God’s plan for our lives, focusing on listening is the start. Rather than asking God to bless what you’re doing and planning, ask him to bless you with guidance for your plan. Then open your ears…
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.
So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew 2:13, 19-20, 22-23 NLT
Three times in these short verses Joseph heard from God through angels or dreams. It was because of these messages that Joseph was able to follow God’s direction and keep the little Jesus safe.
God had a great plan for Jesus and for the people of Israel through Jesus. But that was years away. His public ministry wouldn’t start for close to thirty years. The voice of God spoke into his family’s life to prepare the way.
A devotional leader encouraged a group of us recently to consider God’s voice in our dreams. He observed that other cultures are better at considering this kind of communication. In the west, particularly, we might even think God can’t or won’t speak in dreams and visions. We might even think it is demonic – be careful there, attributing to the devil what is from God. That hasn’t gone well for people.
Are you listening? Maybe that’s the question. If we want to know and follow God’s plan for our lives, maybe focusing on listening is the start. Rather than asking God to bless what you’re doing and planning, ask him to bless you with guidance for your plan…
And remember, Joseph was trained in this. He had his first encounter with God’s angel before Jesus was born. By following God’s voice that first time, he set himself on the trajectory to be led by God for the rest of his life.
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 