Into the Fire

Originally titled "What I appreciate about Mary and Joseph".

I love Mary and Joseph, the imperfect but perfectly placed human parents for the Son of God. I love them and appreciate them because they knew God, they watched for His signs, listened to His voice, obeyed His instructions which, as is sometimes the case, could not have been easy since His supernatural power was fully engaged in their lives. To trust that Almighty God sent His ministering spirits to speak to them as individuals and as a couple requiring some extremely difficult decisions and moves are incredible, admirable, and fascinating acts of obedience. They were a model family where the brunt of the decision making rested on Joseph, and from the first to the last one was neither simple nor easy.

To watch the splendor of God's plan unfold in their lives must have been both awesome, strange, and challenging. When the young Jesus stayed behind to discuss matters of God with the Rabbis and was discovered missing in their family crowd later in their journey, they were rightfully shocked and visibly – and understandably – upset upon retracing their steps to find Him. His explanation about being in His Father's house must have – to use a modern slang term – blown them away, but it had to remind them of all His history that had transpired and that they couldn't escape their own humanity.

I love those two, hand-picked by God, parents of the "Son of man", the man and woman of God who responded to His call and hold an esteemed position in the Kingdom of God. Ordinary people made extraordinary by the Hand of God for His purpose.

Just as He asks of us all . . .

Father, may it be to me as you determine . . . In the Name of Jesus, Amen.