STOP AND THINK

 

TEXT: Matthew 1 vs 18-21 

 This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. ²⁰ While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. ²¹ She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus—because he will save his people from their sins.”

The above passage is a very popular one I believe. It is the story of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We know that Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph but were both sexually pure having had no sexual intercourse with each other. Along the line, Joseph who was a God-fearing man discovered Mary was with child. Not wanting to expose and disgrace Mary publicly, he conceived in his heart to break up the engagement. Our focus in the passage is in verse 20, the Bible says "While he was thinking about this". I want to point out the fact that Joseph would have made a rash decision had he not stop and think. He most likely would have sent Mary away as he had earlier conceived in his heart and lose the privilege of naming the Messiah.

Most times, our failures arises as a result of taking decisions without quality thinking or thinking without taking actions. We saw in Joseph life that amidst the difficult situation, he still took out time to think and eventually God spoke to him. He also did obeyed the voice of God and the end result was glorious.

Are you planning to leave your present location? Are you planning to divorce your wife/husband? Are you planning to quit that job? I encourage you reader, take out time to think carefully before finally taking a decision. The best thing we can do in difficult situations and circumstances is to turn to God for solution. He is the all-knowing God and always have an answer to all questions.
Don't jump to conclusion or use just head knowledge to handle difficulties rather, spend time with God by studying His word, meditating on it and praying. I believe God will eventually speak to that situation of yours and tell you what to do. Finally, you must be willing to obey whatever God tells you to do and only then will your victory be certain.


To meditate on: MOST TIMES, WHAT GOD SAYS WE SHOULD DO ARE NOT WHAT WE WILL LOVE TO DO OR ENJOY DOING BUT ONLY BY OBEYING HIM IS VICTORY CERTAIN