Mary and Joseph

Obedience is not always comfortable. It stretches faith, challenges excuses, and often calls for immediate response. In the story of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, Scripture presents a man without fame or recorded words—an ordinary carpenter. Yet Joseph’s life carries lessons of radical obedience, unwavering trust, and quiet courage. Through him, we see what happens when someone says yes to God without hesitation.

Joseph’s Immediate Yes

When Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy, his world turned upside down. Confusion, hurt, and shame must have weighed heavily. Then came the angel’s message: Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit… you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20–21).

The request was enormous. Marry a woman already carrying a child, embrace the weight of shame from the community, and raise the Son of God. Yet Scripture records Joseph’s response simply: “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded” (Matthew 1:24). No delay, no negotiation—just immediate obedience.

This obedience shows a powerful truth: faith is not proven in feelings, but in action. Joseph did not need every detail. He trusted God’s word and stepped forward.

Listening to God’s Voice

Obedience requires knowing God’s voice. Joseph was sensitive to divine direction, responding immediately, not just once but multiple times. After the visit of the wise men, he was told again in a dream to flee with his family to Egypt for safety. “That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary” (Matthew 2:14).

Joseph’s pattern was clear. He did not wait until morning. He did not delay. He simply obeyed. This demonstrates that hearing God is not meant to be rare or occasional. The Spirit of God is not silent; He continually speaks. As Isaiah 30:21 promises: “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go.’”

The tragedy is never God’s silence, but our deafness. When distractions drown out His voice, hesitation follows. Joseph models the opposite—a life tuned to God’s direction, quick to respond, quick to trust.

Provision Always Arrives on Time

Obedience often leads into the unknown. For Joseph, the call to Egypt was daunting: a long journey into foreign territory with limited resources. Yet God had already provided. The wise men had just brought costly gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were more than symbolic; they were provision for the road ahead.

This is the nature of Jehovah Jireh—the Lord who provides. His provision is not random. It is intentional, arriving at the right moment and in the right measure. Hudson Taylor once said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” When God gives a vision, He also provides the resources to accomplish it.

Delayed Obedience Is Disobedience

Joseph’s story also challenges a common temptation: delaying obedience. It is easy to wait until conditions feel safer, resources look fuller, or clarity arrives. Yet faith is not about perfect conditions; it is about trust. Every moment of delay is, in practice, a silent no.

James 2:17 warns us plainly: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” True faith is seen in immediate obedience, not prolonged hesitation. Oswald Chambers echoed this: “The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience.”

Living With a Ready Yes

Every believer is invited into this posture of readiness—a willingness to say yes to God before knowing all the details. Ordinary people, empowered by the Spirit, can become history-shaping instruments in His hands. The small yes today may open the door to eternal impact tomorrow.

The call is simple yet profound: be marked not by hesitation, but by obedience. Let excuses fall away. Let trust in God outweigh fear. Like Joseph, say yes quickly, and trust that provision will always follow.

Obedience is not about perfection, status, or qualifications. It is about surrender. Joseph’s story proves that an ordinary life, lived with a ready yes, becomes extraordinary in the hands of God. Immediate obedience opens the way for God’s purposes, and timely provision always follows.

The invitation remains: live with a posture of obedience, trust the God who provides, and know that no one is too unlikely to be used by Him.