Raising HopeSample

Get Over Yourself!

What was the most daunting task you ever received? Maybe negotiating a deal for your company, saving someone’s life, Christmas with in-laws or watching the kids all week while your wife is on leave?

Now imagine the daunting task set before Joseph of Nazareth: The woman you are engaged to is pregnant, but the child’s not yours, and now you must raise this child because He will become the Savior of the world.

Jesus had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit, but He also had to be raised to manhood by an earthly father. He was not born into adulthood. Jesus was born as a baby and had a childhood before He could enter manhood. And therefore, until he became a man, He could not enter His ministry yet.

Joseph’s purpose was to raise Jesus and make a man of the Son of God. Let’s learn from the man who raised our eternal Hope. Let’s reflect on how we as men can also raise hope for generations to come by being selfless and intentional mentors.

One moment Joseph was still looking forward to getting married and the next moment he had to raise God's Son as his own. Most of us would need some time to process. Some of us would even jump ship. But what convinces a man to stay and steer his ship through uncharted waters?

Obviously, on the surface, it’s the divine intervention of his dream. But we tend to forget that Joseph still had the choice to obey or disobey God’s Word… he could still have said ‘No’.

Yet, the carpenter chose to set aside his own hopes and dreams, and instead followed God’s dream. A dream that would not only change the lives of Joseph and Mary, but the lives of all humanity. Joseph got over himself and in line with God. And this choice, made in the background of a much bigger story, changed the course of human history! Joseph became the unsung hero in the story of our eternal hope.

So, if you want to see big changes around you, you will have to make big changes within. And the biggest change you’ll have to make to be used by God, whether in the background or on the forefront, is the choice to get over yourself…