As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20)
Has anyone in Scripture ever had less time in print and a larger proportion of their written history based around dreams? Think about Joseph in Matthew 1 and 2:
A dream: Joseph, don’t be afraid to take the pregnant virgin as your wife!
A dream: Get up and take the family to Egypt so you don’t die!
A dream: Get up and go back to Israel; the one trying to kill you has died!
These were supernatural, God-inspired dreams of direction. Joseph heard God’s voice and obeyed. God knew how to reach him—dreams worked. He ‘heard’, obeyed, took action. God repeated it as a means of contact.
Dream, get up, do/go. Repeat.
God finds ways that get our attention. Ways that suit us. Ways that are un-missable. And he works with us on those ways of entry into our hearts.
He knew that the father of Jesus would pay attention to what he heard in dreams. As outlandish and far-fetched as it might have seemed to him—“You are the husband of a pregnant virgin! Rejoice! And…follow these instructions!”—Joseph was a man of obedience. God got his attention, and that effort was not wasted. He might have been pinching himself throughout—“Did I actually dream that? Is that going to happen, or was it just the matza bread I ate so late?”
The story shows clearly that Dreamy Dad was Obedient Joseph.
We are likewise challenged to obey directions from the Father that might also seem so far-fetched we can’t imagine how they could possibly be true.
“Father, thank you for the model of Joseph’s obedience that you showed to all of us. He heard you and obeyed. In what areas of my life are you trying to get my attention and speak to me?”
Freddy Boswell 