Matthew 2: 19-23- Respecting Fear

Read Matthew 2: 19-23-

Joseph was acquainted with fear.  I know there are those who preach we as Christians should not have a spirit of fear and that Satan is the author of fear.  I am certainly not going to debate that idea, but I read in this passage Joseph was afraid to return to Egypt. In verses 22 and 23 we read, “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

Joseph was leading quite a life. First, he wanted to marry a woman who told him she was pregnant but had never had sex with a man. Then an angel appeared to Joseph telling him Mary was telling him the truth, and he would be the father of the Messiah. There was the dream telling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because of Herod’s evil intentions.  We have yet another dream telling Joseph to go to Galilee. That is a lot for a very young man.  He feared for the life of Jesus and then Joseph again feared Herod’s son and did not want to return to Judea.

There are times when we need to respect fear and listen to that emotion.  God confirmed in dreams that Joseph’s fear was well-founded.  One might want to call it caution rather than fear. You might want to call it concern rather than fear.  What we do need to do is consistently listen for the Holy Spirit to impress on us about different things in our lives as God helps us through our lives no different than what God did to help Joseph care for his family.

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