Get Positioned for ChristmasSample

 Get Positioned: Joseph Cooperated 

When we look at the story of Joseph, we see that he had a girl he wanted to marry, in fact, she was betrothed to him already. In their culture, they were as good as married. However, one day, Joseph's girl announced to him that she was pregnant. Put yourself into Joseph's shoes. It was a tough place to be and obviously, it left Joseph confused. Then to make matters worse, when he asked who was responsible, she said the Holy Ghost overshadowed her. The Holy Ghost, really Mary? Would you have believed her if you were Joseph? Joseph obviously did not believe her. But, he was a good man and so he chose to put her away quietly. 

Matthew 1:19-20 "Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream… 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife." I like the way the Message Translation puts Matthew 1:24 "Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary."

Joseph cooperated with God. The question is: Are you cooperating with God and His plans for your life, or are you coming up with your own plans for your own life? Joseph had his plans. God had His own plans. God said to Joseph, 'this thing with Mary is all Me, it is my plan' and Joseph cooperated. To be blessed like Joseph, cooperate with God's plan for your life even if it does not make sense. Are you cooperating with God's plans or are you fighting with God's plans? God has a plan for you. God has a plan for your life for your family. Cooperate with Him. The reason people struggle is they are not really sure if they can trust God? What if God's plans are bad or He sends them somewhere they do not like? 

The challenge is we do not know the heart of God. Jeremiah 29:11 "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." [MSG]. God has a plan and just in case you are wondering, it is a good plan. Guess what? God knows what He is doing. The fact that we do not know what God is doing, does not mean that God does not know what He is doing. We struggle to follow God's plan because we do not know what God is doing. However, if you know God's heart it will be easy for you to follow His plan even if you do not know what He is doing. You do not have to understand what God is doing for you to trust that God knows what He is doing. Joseph cooperated with God. To be positioned for blessing this season and beyond, we have to be like Joseph and cooperate with God.

Let's turn Joseph's response into our prayer today: Lord, help me do exactly what You say. Help me trust Your heart and follow Your plan for my life, in Jesus' Name.