If you’re familiar with the Magi story, King Herod wanted them to spill the beans of where Jesus was located so he could worship too but it was just a trick. King Herod was afraid of the real King of the Jews and was about to order all babies 2 and under to be killed. The Magi did not relay this info, but Jesus, Mary and Joseph were still in trouble at this point.
“13 When they (Magi) had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod.” (Matthew 2:13-15)
Think about how profound this is…
Joseph:
Heard from God’s angel, got up, and took Jesus and Mary immediately, during the night and left for Egypt! The time span was a couple of hours!
❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍
Compare it to us modern day folks:
-Question God’s angel. “Did I really just encounter God’s angel?
-Lack of sleep. “I’m going to roll over, pretend that didn’t happen and catch more zzzz’s. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to sort this out.
-Next morning…
Make some coffee to get some clarity
Do some stretching
Wake Mary gently and discuss the angel visit with her
Study a map from Bethlehem to Egypt and lay out a plan for places to stay and eat
Go through all our possessions. Decide what to purge, what to pack on our travel camel and what to sell on BethlehemBay
Notify the landlord
Notify the local mail
Search for a room or apartment in Egypt in advance
Notify family and friends
Search for a baby doctor in Egypt in advance
Get new hiking sandals for the family with next day Bethlezon delivery
Leave one month later
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄👎👎👎👎👎
Who do you want to be? Joseph heard from God, listened and obeyed. Was life simpler 2000 years ago or can it be that simple if we clearly hear God and just obey?
Dear Jesus,
If you told me to move suddenly, would I slowly start to incorporate your direction for my life, with all the intricacies and complexities of this modern age? Would I have the attitude of “Hold on Jesus, I hear you but it’s not that simple. We need a plan and I’ll be happy to draw one up. You are smart but not as knowledgeable as me in this area.”
Help us Jesus to not let any world complexities get in the way of trusting and obeying you. You know what is best for us. We want no barriers between Your will and our lives. Help us to be like Joseph and Mary with sheer obedience. Thank you for your continued patience, mercy and love, Jesus. Amen.
God Stories for Me, Yippee! 
Oh my….we really have the wrong idea about what obedience means, don’t we.
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I think so. I think about how Jesus told His disciples to just “Follow me.” Even to the point of leaving everything and everyone. ❤ Thank you for reading!
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Oh Marla. This was just so good. I laughed out loud as I read the list of things we would do before leaving. And I see so much of myself in it, although I laughed it was a gentle conviction of whether I would be ready to go. This makes me reflect more on Obedience.
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Thanks Manu. I’m a preparer so they are sadly all true for me. I was taught to make sure my ducks are in a row. The good news is when we’re raptured, I won’t have time to prepare. 😉
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I am right there with you, I am a preparer too and love my lists and do lot of info reading before I have to do anything and usually do not cope very well if I have to go into something without any prep.
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Clever, funny and provocative. Great post, Marla.
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Thank you for taking time to read and comment Patrick.
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Another thought was Father’s provision for the trip: the extremely expensive gifts of the magi may have dazzled a lesser man’s eyes, and made him oblivious to the angel’s visit. “Hmph, I’ve hit enough now to buy my way out of any trouble.” But Joseph, like O
Paul later, was not disobedient to the Heavenly vision.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
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Hmmm, good one. Very true. So many biblical people inspire me. Thank you for your thoughts. 😍
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Thank you Tonya!
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This is great! So often, I hesitate, wondering whether God was speaking or it was just in my head. But you know what? When it is God, he doesn’t say things just once, out of the blue. At least not to me. I’m thinking maybe He had already stirred Joseph’s heart. And when that dream came, it was confirmation and Joseph was acted. I think it will be amazing to have eternity with all the believers over the centuries to hear their stories from their point of view. Until then, I want to work on this type of obedience. Thank you for pointing out the example we have in Joseph!
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You have a whole load of God Stories with your move a few months ago. You had an end goal and God confirmed it bc your steps fell into place one by one. It was amazing. And you continued to give the glory to God throughout. You are obedient! 💋❤💋❤
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Great post Marla! Very well said. A serious message, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at what we would do today!
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Thanks Cathy! I would have added about 10 more things but people don’t have time to read extensive posts. Ha
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May we all live in the level of trust in God and be so quick to obey as Mary and Joseph.
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🙏 Amen
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Thank you for reblogging! God bless you ❤
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