It Is Well - Part 3

Last Sunday I, uh, kicked off our Christmas series. Uh, I've titled the series "It Is Well." And it is based a little bit off of the song — it's there — and a little bit also using in the background the, the Serenity Prayer. Or it is the statement, or the prayer, where we say, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." And we started last week by looking at Mary, the mother of Jesus, and all that she went through. And we seen where she was living out that prayer, of having serenity to accept the things that she could not change. And that's where we are right now. I, I've already, already been working through that prayer in my life: traffic, long lines, all the stuff that's going on. In fact, just this past Monday, one day after preaching that message, some unnamed person was sitting behind me in my car as I was driving in Nashville traffic, and was reminding me that prayer, to be able to accept the things that I couldn't change, as I was sitting dead still on I-24. It's a good thing to remember, it is. Yeah, and always good to hear your message preached back to you one day afterwards. But I guess I need to heed my own preaching as well. And there's all kind of stuff that we deal with that we, we can't change.

I don't know what was going on at Target yesterday. They must have been giving away the store. But we found ourselves having to go into that parking lot in insanity. It was over there, man. If you ever needed serenity, it was then. Maybe you don't know — assumption that everyone 's what the word serenity means. If you go back to the root Latin word, this is actually "serene." It means a, a cloudless and peaceful sky. "God, give me peace and clarity to see that there are things in my life I can change, and it's not gonna do me a whole lot of good to get worked up about it, they're just not going to change. So help me to do that." That was the first message.

Then Wednesday night, Pastor Wesley did a great job talking about that it is well because we have Emmanuel: God is with us. Jesus did come, and he is here. Did a great job on that. And today we are going to be diving into what I feel like is, is a part of dealing with the courage to change. And we're going to be looking at the life of Joseph. So my question for you, off the bat — sometimes I do this, I think it's good for me just to set the question up, because I want you to be asking yourself this question as I preached today's sermon. So here's my question for us today: Where do you need courage to change something God is calling you to change? Where do you need courage to change something that God is calling you to change?

To me, I love this time. I love it. It's just fascinating, all the story that goes. I don't know, it seems like we get to December and it's — we unpack these, these six or eight characters, and we've studied them out. And the Bible is full of other characters. And it is true, the Bible is full of so many lives that God chose to have put together for you and I to study. But I still can't get away, this time of year, of looking into these lives. And why did they make the decisions, and do the things that they did? As I read through this, uh, I, I come across what happens often time in the story of Christmas: that God loves to remind those individuals that were part of this beginning story of the life there, to not be afraid, to have courage. You, you with me? You, if you read it there too, how often that there's an interaction taking place, and one of the first things that's being said is, is to have courage. Like when Zachariah was visited by an angel — he was going to be the one who's going to be the father of John the Baptist, the one who's going to be the forerunner for the Messiah. And we see this in Luke chapter 1, verse number 12. It says, "Then when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard.'" And then, if we go to the message I talked about last week, where Mary is being visited there in Luke chapter 1, verse 30: "Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" And then the words even come to the shepherds that were in the field; they're keeping watch over their flock. We see it in chapter 2, verse 10: "Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you Tidings, Good Tidings of great joy, which is to be all to people.'" So we keep seeing this repeated over and over as this story is being unfolded there: don't be afraid. Why is that? I think part of it is because we, we have what oftentimes is a non-biblical picture of angels. Usually, when you see them, they're kind of soft characters. And in, in, in, in, in someone that, you know, you look at, and you think, instead of them being able to say "don't be afraid," they should be saying, "Oh, they're there, it's going to be okay" — that Victorian style of angel. But I don't know. I feel like there's a lot more to it. Because every encounter with the angel, the first thing they say is, "Hey, don't be afraid." I think there was something about their appearance, I mean, that there was so uncharacteristic of anything else around them, that they wanted you to know, "Hey, this is a good thing going on. Don't be afraid."

When the Bible calls for you and I to not be afraid, I think we, we have to ask ourselves why. What's going on? Because I think — this is, if I can — I like making things simple. Anybody else like that? I'm, I'm usually always wanting to make things simple. I feel like there's a lot of people — and if I'm gonna maybe even get down and, and already, already start plowing the field a little bit today — there's a lot of you in the room right here today, that you make life way more complicated than it has to be. Now, I'm not saying anybody point stuff out. No, no, no elbow, any nudging right now, okay? But there, there are individuals who just make life complicated. There are people who complicate Velcro shoes. You don't have to do that. You don't have to make life harder than it is. Because what I, what I feel like is that God's desire is to do something great with your life. And I'm going to unpack this, hopefully, and it'll do a good job. But it comes down to you making some choices, whether you're going to do it or you're not going to do it. Because I feel like the road to know, "I'm not going to do it," is oftentimes marked by fear, but the road to "yes, I'm going to do it" is marked by courage. And always, what you're going to do — God has a plan for your life, something that he wants you to do, specific, just for you. It's not my plan, it's your plan. It's not your neighbor's plan. It's not your mom's plan. It's not your brother's plan. It's your plan. And are you going to accept it? Are you going to say no and turn down? Because I'm telling you, to turn it down is, is to do so because of fear. More often not, it's fear. But to accept it is to do it with some courage. No, yes. Fear, courage.

And we see this happening in the Christmas story. Specifically where I'm going today, I feel like you see this very evident in the life of Joseph. Is told that the woman that he's engaged to is pregnant. Now, that may not be such a big deal, except Joseph knows, "I'm not the father." Now, that's all of a sudden, you hear the music. He knows, "We haven't been together, so it's not mine." And now he's got to think through what he's going to do. Now, what I feel like happens a lot of times is, is there's a struggle. And I want to unpack it a little bit more, but I want you to read the story from the scriptures, and then maybe I'll set this up a little bit better. First, Matthew chapter one, verse 20, says: "But while he thought about these things" — now, what he's thinking about is, he just found out she's pregnant, and he knows it's not mine, okay? So he's thinking. And it, I think it's, that's probably a soft way of saying he's probably fretting a little bit about these things. "Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared on him and dreams, saying, 'Joseph, son of David' — here we go — 'don't be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth the son. He shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'"

See, marriage should be a very sobering thing. Now, I've seen people that don't, don't really think at all, anything about it. They just — it's like they're going out down the chip aisle to pick out barbecued or wavy Lays. And then they approach marriages saying, "Yeah, okay, we can do that." None of you shouldn't approach marriage that way, okay? It's a big deal. Say that with me: "Marriage is a big deal." It's a, it's a big deal.

I propose to my sweet wife. Y'all, she's beautiful. I love her. She's, she's just gorgeous. I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not trying to dig my way out of a hole. But in 1998, fall that year, I proposed to, to my wife. We were out on Old Hickory Lake. We were on a boat. We were watching the squirrels scurry around through the leaves. And, and I had everything prepared. I had the ring. I was ready to go. I, I had — I was ready for this moment. And then, and right as I went to pop the question, all of a sudden I got a little bit anxious, because something occurred to me I hadn't really thought through: What if she says no? Now, I'm a pretty, pretty confident guy most all the time. And, and I usually know the outcome before I get myself involved with something. I think through things. And I was feeling pretty good, up until I put that ring box in my hand. And, and I'm going to be transparent with you: as I held that little velvet box in my hand, she didn't — she didn't know. She had no clue. She was, she was against — she was looking at the, the leaves. We were there. Yeah, I got a little grip there. I thought, "You know, I feel like she's going to say yes. But Kevin, are you prepared if she happens to say no?" And the answer was, I wasn't prepared. I don't know what I would do if she said no. And then something happened to me. And this all happened in the span of like, like about 29 seconds. I also had a little bit more anxiety with: what if she says yes? Now, I don't know if you ever felt that way when you were going through your proposal. But there's two possibilities: she's either going to say no or yes. And for the briefest of moments, I was anxious about either way. Because what if she said yes? All of a sudden we could get married. And what if it doesn't turn out the way I expected it to be? What, what if I have to change? And what if she has to change? And, and what if our marriage isn't perfect? And all these things are going over my head.

Now, that was just me. Then I put myself into the story where Joseph's at, and I began to try to think through how much was he dealing with in that moment. Because I feel like so much is said with so few words in the scriptures, when it says that fact, that while he was thinking about these things — what was he thinking about? What I just described to you: "I thought I had it planned out." But see, see, culturally things were different here than where we are. See, there was already the proposal. They were already, as an engagement, that was going on. And the way they did things in those days, is it, is it was a big deal. It was actually a legal binding contract that they were going to be married. And after they had their little ceremony for the engagement, Joseph would have went back to his mom and dad's place, and he would have been building on a room to the house, so that when he went to go get his bride, he could bring her back to a place that he had prepared for her. Boy, a lot of typology is there in it, and I'll unpack that later. But this is what's going on. So somewhere in the process of him adding on the room, and preparing everything that he was going to need for this, he gets word: "Hey, Mary's pregnant." And Joseph's like, "Man, I don't really remember that. I feel like I probably should remember something like that. I don't remember there. So wait a minute, that means it wasn't me." So now he's thinking through, "What am I going to do?" Because it's more than just the fact — he's trying to process, "Has she been unfaithful to me?" I mean, that would — that's a big, that's a big piece of it. But there's more than just "she's been unfaithful to me." In that culture, it was a big deal to be someone who had to deal with shame and rejection. Big, big deal. And, and we're told in the scriptures that Joseph was a righteous man. And the study that out means that Joseph was well respected in his community. He was a good guy. He had a good name. He had a good reputation. He came from good stock. Everything was good. He had a lot going from him. And now, all of a sudden, he's having to deal with something. This is an embarrassing situation. And embarrassing really isn't a powerful enough word to describe all that Joseph's having to process in this moment. Not only has she been unfaithful, but I'm legally bound to this now. I can, and I have a right to, according to the law of the day, according to the Torah, I have the right to publicly bring her out to the town gate and say, "This woman has been unfaithful with me. She is pregnant with someone else's child." And they could have stoned her at the City Gate until she was dead.

He's processing a lot of stuff. He's thinking through all this. And then it — we read on that he, he's like, "I, I don't know that I want to do that." He obviously, he has some feelings for Mary, to the point that, "I don't know. Even though I'm upset about the situation, I'm upset about the unfaithfulness in his mind, I don't know that I want her to die. I think maybe I'll just do this in a private manner. But I'm going to distance myself from this situation that I don't like." Well, anybody ever wanted to do that before? Anybody ever had a situation you want to put some distance? I'll get even more real: anybody ever had a family situation you wanted to distance yourself from? Don't point fingers. He's dealing with a lot. And all these things are going on inside of his mind. And it's in this moment then God starts to talk to him. It's in this moment that the angel says, "Don't be afraid, Joseph. Don't be afraid." And I love how, when he comes in, he gets really specific, because he says, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid." He's reminding him. Now, please stay with me, okay? He's reminding him of his identity, because sometimes life has a way of rocking you, hitting you so hard out of nowhere, just smacking you all of a sudden, that you almost forget who you are. And I see that Joseph, in my mind, when the story's going — he's just sitting there, and I have him on a stump. I don't know why, but he's on a stump. And when you preach it, you put him wherever you want to. But for me, he's on a stump. Now you guys see him on the stump. Hey, he's there. He's on the stunt. But he is contemplating all the things he's got going on in his mind. And it's in this moment, as he's just in a whirlwind, that the angel shows up. And he has to remind him, "Hey, you're Joseph." Because life will hit you sometimes in such a way, you, you forget a lot of stuff.

Joseph, of course, was a great hero in the Old Testament. His brother sold him into slavery — not to Joseph on the stump, okay, talking about way back in the Old Testament. Joseph, his brothers sold him into slavery. His employer later threw him into prison. But he wasn't scared, because the word of God says God was with him. But, but that's not what the angel says. He says, "You're Joseph, son of David." He gets more specific, because he's speaking to the Joseph on the stump. He's reminded him where he comes from: that you're from the line of David. The David, the Giant Killer. David, the one who defied King Saul. Well, David that led his country. David that became the greatest King. "You're Joseph, son of David. You have an identity. I don't want you to get lost, Joseph, and what is out of your control" — that was last week's message, right? "But you get lost in what, what is beyond your control. I want you to listen, Joseph, because you've got a decision to make. Do you have a choice that's coming to you?" The angel says, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife."

"Blah, blah. Hang on, God. Hang on. Do you know what that means for me? Are you, are you really, really asking me to do this? Because this is not something easy. This isn't like just picking out what shoes I'm going to wear. This is a very difficult situation you have presented me with, God. And you're saying don't be afraid, when I'm afraid. I'm really afraid. I'm scared. Because I am righteous Joseph. I have a good name. I have a good reputation. I come from a good family. You just reminded me that I come from the lineage of David. I have a lot at stake here. I don't want to ruin this, God. What are you saying?" "I'm saying, Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary. You need to make a decision, Joseph. I'm presenting you with something. I'm not going to be able to fully explain everything to you in this moment. You're not going to fully get your mind around what I'm fixing to try to describe to you. I need you to have some courage, Joseph, to take Mary as your wife. You're fixing to go on an adventure, and you're going to be following after me. I don't want you to give up because you're afraid."

It's very interesting, because we're told that Joseph had been anxiously considering rejecting. Well, I'll explain that to you, all that was going on. This is a heavy consideration, a lot of stuff to go on. The angel came there, he spoke. Now, I don't know about you, but this is how my brain works: as I read through these things, I ask myself a lot of questions. Like, why is it that way? Like this, for example: I feel like if I was right in this part of the story, I would have probably written it this way. And the angel goes to Joseph, and says to Joseph, "Hey, I'm going to tell you about something that you're probably not going to like. I want to give you some advanced knowledge, so that you don't check out for a minute and find yourself sitting on a stump. You're going to find out that the woman you're engaged to — tell you in advance." Why didn't you do that? Why does anybody else think that way? I know nobody else's mind is crazy like mine, but that's how I think. "Oh my God, why did you write it this way? Why did it happen this way?" And I feel like God said, "Because I'm God. It's my story, all right, how I want to." No, I felt like I told me this, because life doesn't always give you the why. Have you ever noticed that? How many people besides me, almost on a weekly basis, just do this: "Why? Why?" I mean, I do that sometimes when I look at people. "Why?" I do that when something breaks. "Why?" I'll do that when something hurts. "Why?" Do you know what I'm saying? Does anybody else specifically do the Y thing? Because we don't always get the why, do we? And the story is here because it was real. It's life. It happens this way. And it's unfolding for Joseph the same way: he's not getting the why yet. He's having to deal with the situation. And then God shows up and says, "Look, let me tell you something: don't be afraid." I think it — Joseph's going to have to face fear, risk, and unknown stuff in his life, because he's going to need some courage. Because we all need courage in our life. Courage helps us when we counteract, or we come in contact with things that make us afraid. Now, here's the deal: we think the courageous people are people who don't have fear. But that's not the truth. The only people who can exercise courage are people who are actually afraid. Let me explain. This is what I believe. I feel like courage is not the absence of fear; it's doing what God wants you to do in the presence of fear. I heard one writer say it this way, and I thought it was really good. And he said, "Courage is a strong desire to live, taken from the form of a readiness to die." See, there's something about living for God that should have some confidence in us, that I'm not afraid if I do die. I'm not signing up for the first train out, but I'm not going to let that fear control me.

Who — before the Holy Ghost moving right now, I feel like there's some of you who are too worried about dying. And I would encourage you today to, to strengthen your relationship in him, because that relationship with him should give you confidence that even if death comes, I'm okay. Come on. Oh, come on, come on now. Why are you afraid of death? Are you really afraid? If you're afraid of it, then, then I feel like maybe you need to work on that relationship with God a little bit better, because he'll give you confidence that even if the worst thing happens to you, it's okay. That means you go to heaven. Oh, maybe you too fond to be in here. Here is not heaven; this is just where we're after we go there. Hmm. Let me go back to my notes. I feel a meddling Spirit about to come on me. I better get back over here.

As long as you and I live, God will keep putting you and I into places of risk, so that we can trust him, so that we have the ability to exercise our faith and our courage. And then we grow. And he'll lead us to new places of uncertainty, where we experience, guess what, more fear. But we can trust him again. Here's what I've experienced in my life: 46 years old, I'll be 47 next month. In my life of living for God, every time God brought me into a new place, I was always met with uncertainty, and things that are unknown. And I felt unqualified. And honestly, I felt my flesh say, "You don't want to do that." But when I quieted my spirit long enough to say, "God, what do you want me to do?" I kept hearing him say, "Come on. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I got something for you. You just keep walking. Just keep — Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary. I have a plan here, and it involves you. And I'm fixing to take you on the greatest adventure of your life. Don't be afraid."

You can only grow courage by trusting God and obeying him, and moving forward with actions. Joseph says yes, and he takes Mary into his home. But that's not the end of the fear. It'd be great if it was one and done, wasn't it? Now, how many of us in here are one and done people? It's okay, I got one, one honest soul right over here. Anybody else, one and done person? I mean, there's things I don't want to do. I'm like, "All right, if I know I only got to do it once." Like, why do I have to go to the dentist? That should be one thing. Like, I go one time, I get them clean. Why are my teeth — and I clean forever? And all the modern technology that we have, how have they not figured that out? Oh, I guess you all like going to the dentist. I don't. They're a necessary evil. One and done. Living for God is not a one and done. It's not. I said, so, we got to be careful now, because there's, there's a lot of push in mainstream Christianity for one and done. Um, "Well, if you'll just come down one time, and you'll just, you'll just say you're good to go from that point forward." Ah, I don't know how you get that and read the Bible, because nobody here was one and done. Everybody here was — they had to give their whole life, including the one who gave it for you and I. He did it first. And then he says, "Hey, come follow me." In fact, he said it this way. He said, "Take up your cross and follow me. It's going to be an adventure." Ladies and gentlemen, you got to get your head around that. There's going to be times where you're going to, you're going to feel great. You're going to feel like you can do anything. You're going to feel like you could tackle a bus for Jesus. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I mean, you're like, "Bring it." You're coming out of some services and some inner counters with God. You're like, "I'm here with me. You'll go to hell with a water pistol." And then there are some days when you can't breathe, because fear has consumed you. Has God changed? No, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. What's changed? What you're looking at. What you're telling yourself. It's an adventure to go with him. Joseph says yes. He takes mayor home. It'd be great if that was it. 'd be great if it was just that himself. "Okay, I'm going to trust you." And he marries. And then it was just smooth sailing from that point on. They never faced any of the other adversities, no other encounters. And what was written as, Joseph lived to a great, long life, and he got to see his kids' kids. That would be great. We want that story, don't we? But that's not the story. He accepts. He moves forward. But a little while later, in Chapter 2 of Matthew, we read Joseph again: "Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Now when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in dream, saying, 'Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word. For Herod will seek the young child and destroy him.'" Here we go again. We'll walk it. I mean, he had the courage to accept. "Why isn't going smoothly now? He's doing something else." Imagine what Joseph feels when he hears that Herod, the most powerful man in the world, is out to kill the kid. What's going through his mind? What emotion do you think he's dealing with in this moment? Anybody guess? Fear. Anybody guess? Anxiety. Death. He's dealing with all this stuff. So he runs, and they live in Egypt. And we pick up in verse number 19: "Now when Herod was dead" — yes, bad guy's dead. We like that in the story, don't we? — "behold, an angel Lord appear to the dream of Joseph, Egypt, saying, 'Arise, take that young child and his mother, then go to the land of Israel. For those who sought the young child's life are dead.' And they lived happily ever after." No, that's not what it says. Verse 21: "Then he arose and took the unchild, his mother, that came down to Israel. But when they heard that Achilles was there, Iranian, Judea, or however you said that guy's name, instead of the father Herod, he was a fraid to go there." What's he dealing with again? Fear. "And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside to the region of Galilee."

Now, we know prophetically things were taking place that had to happen, don't we? For those who've been to church for a while, you know prophetically things were being fulfilled. But guess who didn't understand that? Joseph. Guess who's being afraid because things aren't working out the way they said? Joseph. Guess who's living, in a lot of ways, just like you and I? It was Joseph. Because it wasn't according to his plan. But, but each one of these crossroads, he has a decision: either be obedient and follow God and have courage, or say no and succumb to the fear in my life and miss what God has for me. He lives in constant risk and danger. Joseph experiences fear of being a parent, and trying to make sure he keeps him.

When our first daughter was born, I felt this great surge of love. I've talked about it before. But at the same time, I also felt something I hadn't anticipated. I felt — I felt some fear. Felt a little anxious about a few things, because I'm like, "I'm in charge of this little human." I remember when we left Baptist Hospital in my little black Jeep Cherokee, and we're heading home. We got like two blocks away, and I'll turn to my wife, and I said, "They let us take her out the door. They didn't even ideas or anything. We just walked right out with her." I remember driving for the first time in my life cautiously. I remember yelling at people, like, "You're too close. Back away. There's a kid in here." Because all of a sudden I was gripped. I'm thinking, "What was going to happen? What if I mess her up? What if Chastity messes her up? What if I make mistakes, and we make mistakes, and we cause her to struggle? What if she inherits things from me that I've had to deal with in my life? What, what do I do with all this?" Now, this is all settling in. That's just what I dealt with. Think about what Joseph — because he's already knowing that this is God's son, this is the Messiah. How much pressure is that? I mean, what do you do? I mean, he's a carpenter. He had to hit his thumb at some point. "I didn't, Dad. Why'd you say nothing? All is well here. I know." See, none of y'all think about this stuff. This is the craziest thing in my mind. All the pressure. Surely he said to himself at some point, "What if I mess him up?" Because parents, we think those things. Not only am I the only one that's had that thought. I had that moment of fear, or that moment of being anxious, that is there in the, in, in the Christmas story.

Here's something that's interesting to me. In all the Bible — I want you to know of, in all the Bible, Joseph never speaks. Did you know that? And the story we have — but everybody else in the Christian story does. Mary talks. Zechariah. Elizabeth. Herod the Great. The wise men. Even the shepherds are on quote, as they're going down, as saying something. Not Joseph. Nothing. We have nothing written that he ever said. Maybe he was a quiet man, or maybe he was kind of shy, or maybe it was in his nature to be a little bit timid. But what I do know is this: he just keeps doing what God asked him to do. "God, grant me the courage, at each intersection, to say yes. Grant me the courage, each time I presented between fear and no, and yes and courage, help me pick courage."

Back in the 1950s, there was a researcher, well-known Harvard graduate and scientist with John Hopkins University, who did a series of rather unorthodox experiments using water buckets and rats. Some amazing discoveries. Some of you may have even studied this. It's a documented — gets used in universities as teaching, especially anybody going into any social studies, or going to any therapy studies. He put the rats in a large bucket filled, hope, halfway with water. Because rats, especially wild rats, are notoriously good swimmers. So he put them in the buckets to see how long they could swim. And what he found, on average, is they would make it about 15 minutes, and then they would end up succumbing, and they would end up drowning and dying. Now, nobody should be bothered by that, because we're talking about a rat. Follow-up experience: as the rats started to give up in sink, to that moment he would reach into the buck, and he would pull the rat out. He would dry it off for just a minute, let it catch its breath, calm it down, and then he would put it back in the bucket. Do you know how long it would swim once it was put back in the bucket? On average, it would swim for 60, 60 hours, 60 hours. To the point that he documented that the only explanation he had was that, when the rat was pulled out for just a moment, it was given hope. Even when it was placed right back in the same circumstances, it had hope that at some point it might be pulled back out again.

There are times we feel just like that rat, treading water. "I don't have any options." Stuck in a job you hate. Your body's broken. Doctors can't seem to help. Just treading water. Marriage is just two strangers living together. You're just treading water. Decisions were made to leave you feeling hollow and worthless and helpless. You're just treading water. Circumstances beyond your control, set in motion by other things, other people — a chain reaction where you're seemingly just caught on the ride. You're just treading water, over and over again. But as I bring this to a close today, let me remind you: that is not God's desire for your life. Can I say that? That is not God's desire for your life. But we serve a God who gives hope.

"Joseph, I know it's not going to make sense, but don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife." "Well, if I do that, it means I got to give up a reputation. That means, culturally, I'm going to be shunned." I'm going to tell you something, guys: the overwhelming majority of the time, living for God is going to not fit in, in cultural settings. Not if you really commit yourself to God. Most of society is going to look at you like you look crazy. Don't, don't feel anything different. Joseph's dealing with the same. That's what he's going through up there. But he says, "Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Don't be afraid, Joseph. Be courageous."

Do you know what he was really saying? He was saying, "Mary didn't break the law, Joseph. Mary was not an adulterer. Mary didn't have sexual relations outside of marriage. There is no reason for righteous Joseph to keep Mary out of his home. He's saying, it's okay. What's going on is something that I have my hand on. Don't be afraid."

Do you catch what Joseph did after this? "Joseph did about the angel of the Lord commanded him." He took Mary home to be his wife. And in doing this, he publicly assumed responsibility for Mary and the unborn child. Not only that, but when the child was born, and being obedient to what God asked him to do, he names the child Jesus. Because when a father named the child, he's saying publicly, "This is mine." "I see the little, little community. We've known, oh, it's illegitimate. You're taking responsibility?" "Yes, I am." As a righteous man, than Joseph responded in the direct and simple way of all truly righteous people. He simply — please listen to me. I'm wrapping this up. Listen to me. He simply obeyed. He obeyed. "God, give me the courage to change, as Joseph changed." Because he was willing to do that, we're still talking about him some 2,000 years later. Because he was somebody who was willing to be obedient. When God asked him to simply trust, he fulfilled the destiny God had for him. And God is wanting to do the same for you and I: to not be afraid of the future that he has for you.

Speaking to somebody today. God's moving right now. I feel it. I'm closing. I'm bringing this to close. But God wants you to not be afraid of the future he has for you. Jeremiah 29:11: "4 I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil." What does it say at the end? "To give you a future and hope." Leave that up for just a minute, if you don't mind. How many of you feel like you're just treading water? Like that rat in that bucket. I'm here to tell you, there's a God who wants to give you a future and hope. He has something special that's just for you. But you got to trust him. You got to trust him. Because more often than not, it's not going to go according to your plan. "Are you listening to me, Joseph? Are you listening to me? It's probably not going to go the way you have it scripted. It's not going to work out the way you want it to. I know. I understand. I'm that kind of person." But as I look back in my life, this great adventure that has led me to where I am now, it wasn't any other thing but me simply saying, "God, I don't understand, but okay." I don't under — that was my entire coming to God, and acknowledging that he wanted me to be in ministry. I simply said those words in my prayer: "God, I don't understand it, but I know that you will not let me go. So whatever it is you want me to do, I'm in." Was I scared? You bet I was scared. And there's still times I get a little anxious and afraid of what he's trying to do. But he's never left me. Not one time. Not one time. And there are days I feel like I'm going round and around in that bucket, treading water. But there are times that he picks me up, and I have that hope, that he knows where I am. He never said it was going to be easy, but he said, "I'll never leave you, and I'll never forsake you. Joseph, I'll never leave you. Take Mary. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of what they're going to do to you culturally. Don't be afraid if they make fun of you. Don't mean— don't be afraid of what they're going to say. Just trust me, Joseph. I'll be there. I'll be there with you in Egypt. I'll be there with you in Galilee. I'll be there with you the entire time."

The future and a hope. Here's the key for whenever you're afraid. From the very beginning, the angels give Joseph a reason to not give into fear: "Don't be afraid." Listen to this. This is — it is my last, my 60-second ending, and we're going to stop. But listen to this, okay? "Don't be afraid, Joseph, because what is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. And you're to give him the name Jesus. Joseph, don't be afraid, because Jesus is going to be with you." But he's just a little babe. But he didn't stay just a little babe. He's so much, so much of this. You know, he first come into God, we don't understand it all. We know what to do. We just — we come in a lot of times, and almost like blind faith: "Okay, God, I'm here." And thankfully, God meets us where we are. But it's the beginning of our relationship with him. But it doesn't stay an infant state, unless we leave it there. Keep trusting. Keep walking. "Don't be afraid to take her, because Jesus is going to be with you."

I'm reaching for somebody today. There's a decision you need to make. And you, you need to have the courage to do it. But no, Jesus is going to be with you. "God, give me the serenity to accept the things I can't change. Courage, change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference." The call is not to conjure up courage. Jesus is with you. You don't have to be afraid. So my question: Where does God need to give you courage to make the change today? Where do you need to make a change? I don't know. That's a question I can't answer for you. It's one only you can answer. But as I close in prayer, I pray that you would ask yourself: Where do I need courage to change today?

Will you pray with me? Oh, holy God, you've been with us. Your presence is in this room. You're touching lives, and doing what you do best. I pray, God, that we would have courage today to trust you, to make changes in our lives, to bring ourselves to the place where we can fulfill the future and the hope that you have for us. Pray, God, you give someone that courage right now. This altar is open. And I'm praying that you have the courage to step out, and to meet the God who holds the world in his hand, and to trust him for what he has for you. It's prayer time. Become — I'd love to pray with you. We're going to spend a few moments in prayer, and see what God wants to do today.