“We make decisions based on our beliefs.”
Pastor Dick Foth spoke about the difficult choice Joseph made. His teenaged fiancé was pregnant, and he wasn’t the father. Mary told an unbelievable tale, then an angel showed up in a dream and said, “God did it.”
Joseph could have broken the engagement. He could have had Mary shunned, or even stoned. But Joseph knew the scripture, he knew the prophesy.
He believed, and he made a tough decision. He chose the gossip, the whispers, the ridicule – Joseph chose to honor his promise based on what he believed.
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I’m thinking about how frequently we say we believe something. People claim to follow Jesus, join clubs with honor codes, sign on to mission/values statements at work, or pledge allegiance to a republic.
It’s al very high-sounding, until there’s a potential painful choice to be made, one that requires us to put significant skin in the game. And Dick is saying something awfully powerful:
“We make decisions based on our beliefs.”
In other words, our decisions in tough times actually reveal our true beliefs. Not the ones we talk about or write on fancy-sounding documents, but the beliefs for which we’re willing to stand when the going gets tough.
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We’re waiting for the arrival of a baby who sacrificed everything because He believed in love. As we wait, it’s perhaps good to ask for the courage to make choices based on what we say we believe.
“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”