Trust In Your Shepherd

Trust in Your Shepherd

Perhaps you don’t need your hope restored right now. Your jungle has become a meadow, your journey a delight. If such is the case, congratulations. But remember, we do not know what tomorrow holds. You may be one turn from a cemetery, from a virus, from an empty house. You may be a bend in the road from a jungle. And though you don’t need your hope restored today, you may tomorrow. And you need to know to whom to turn.

Or perhaps you do need hope today. You know you were not made for this place, you know you are not equipped, you want someone to lead you out. If so, put your trust in the Shepherd. He knows the path that leads to your new beginning, and he’s just waiting for you to join him.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Where Joseph Stood

On the night when Jesus was born, I wonder if Joseph prayed, “Father, this all seems so bizarre. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another?”

You’ve stood where Joseph stood. Each of us knows what it’s like to search the night for a light. Not outside a stable, but perhaps outside an emergency room or the manicured grass of a cemetery. We’ve asked our questions. We’ve wondered why God does what he does. If you’re asking what Joseph asked, let me urge you to do what Joseph did: obey. He didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience.

What about you? You have a choice: to obey or disobey. Because Joseph obeyed, God used him to change the world. Can he do the same with you? Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve, even when you don’t understand?

Out on a Limb

”After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18 NKJV).

Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me?” Pride told him not to do it, but God told him to do it.

Have you been called to got out a limb for God? I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in his. His or yours? Disrupting, isn’t it? You can bet it won’t be easy. Limb-climbing has never been. Ask Joseph. Or better yet, ask Jesus! He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.