What Dreams May Come…
Matthew 1:24 (ESV) 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife…
I
enjoy and sometimes endure, a rather vivid dream life. Most of the time they
vanish with the morning mist. Sometimes they linger, particularly the ones in
which I’m back in the Army. A very few stick with me for a long time, even
intruding upon my waking hours. Like most of us in our modern world of empirical
data-driven decisions, I do not give my dreams much weight in decision-making.
I assume that for the most part they are products of synapses firing randomly
in the night, or my subconscious sorting through various happenings trying to make
sense of this chaotic world. Whatever their source, I do not expend much time
trying to divine meaning from my dreams, unlike Joseph.
Joseph
faced a potentially devastating problem, especially in his cultural milieu. A pregnant fiancé indicated either premarital
relations or some sort of extracurricular dalliance. Matthew also notes that
Joseph was a “just,” or righteous man, implying a high degree of character.
Then later, he dreams and receives instructions in the night, and follows them.
What level of faith does it require to make such a life-altering decision based
on guidance from a dream? Advent calls us to take risk, great risk. God took
great risk in sending His son, and He calls us to take similar risk.
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