Difficult Decisions

Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision? A life and death decision?

Jim and Betty Elliot and their friends wanted to help the Auca (Ahka) Indians of Equador to learn about Jesus. The problem was that the Auca were very vicious, people and anytime someone had tried to approach them from the outside they had been killed. After months of trying to slowly connect, the Auca came to their camp in force and killed them.

The Aucas always remembered those five strange white men who had been so kind to them and had not tried to kill them. And so, a year later when more missionaries tried again to speak to the Aucas about Jesus, they were ready to listen. Several of the men who had helped to kill Jim and his friends with their spears now became Christians.

Lottie Moon was a single woman who had a passion for telling the Chinese about Jesus. In 1873 she started her missionary work in China. War broke out in China in 1894 and then widespread famine. Lottie shared her money and food with anyone in need even to the point of causing physical and mental health issues for herself. In 1912 fellow missionaries visited Lottie and discovered that she only weighed 50 pounds. They arranged to have her transported back to the U.S., but she died on the boat trip to Japan.

An African missionary shared this story about a newly appointed young missionary to Africa. He was picked up at the airport by an elderly missionary that he was going to help. As they were driving to their village they were stopped by Muslim extremists with guns. They demanded that the two deny Jesus is Lord and convert to Islam. After several attempts to convince the missionaries they killed the older missionary. Turning to the younger man they again told him to deny Jesus. The missionary took off his jacket and held it out to one of the men holding a gun on him. “Please take this jacket. It is brand new. It would be shame to get blood on it, so I want to give it to you now.” Because of this act of generosity, the men did not shoot him. In fact, they listened to this missionary and became followers of Jesus.

Pastor David Wilkerson and his wife also put their lives in danger when they chose to move to New York City to witness to gang members and start a drug recovery ministry. Their story became famous because of the book The Cross and the Switchblade, which was made into a movie in 1970.

What causes men and women like these to make a decision that put them in harm’s way? What is it that causes them to be more concerned about others than about their own lives? These difficult decisions require a supernatural strength and determination that can only come from God. The Christmas story also includes a very difficult decision. Joseph was engaged to Mary when he found out that she was pregnant. Joseph knew that the child was not his. Mary told him what the angel had said to her, but… listen.

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. (Matthew 1:18-19)

Marriages in Israel during this time were done a little differently than what we know. A man, or his family, would arrange with the family of the girl he was to marry, generally paying a fee to the girl’s family. The two families had to agree to the marriage and then they would plan to be wed. From the moment of the agreement they couple would be engaged. This engagement was legally binding. The couple would be considered married, although they would not live together or have an intimate relationship yet. The man often returned to his father’s house for a year or more before the wedding ceremony. The engagement could only be broken by a death or divorce.

From the time of the engagement until the actual wedding, the man was supposed to work to provide a home for his bride as well as to cover all costs for the upcoming wedding feast, which could last 7 days. Joseph and Mary were legally married, but they had not yet had their wedding ceremony. As such, they had not yet been intimate and he knew for a fact that this child was not his. Yes, Mary told him what the angel said about this being the Son of God, but that required a lot of faith for him to take her word about it.

Joseph was faced with a difficult decision and he chose what was the kindest thing to do in a situation like this. Based on their laws he had the right to have her put to death for breaking their agreement. The fact that he was going to secretly divorce her was not an easy one for him to make, but I think it showed that he really did love Mary. Divorcing her would also make it more difficult for him to find a wife from any respectable Jewish family. The decision may have been difficult, but he had made it and I doubt that even Mary’s family would have blamed him for his decision.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)

Now that Joseph had heard firsthand the news directly from an angel, just as Mary had, he was now faced with a new difficult decision: whether or not he would believe God. Mary believed the angel immediately. She was honored to be chosen by God even if it caused her public humility and shame. Joseph had already proved that he was a kind man because he was willing to quietly end their marriage agreement, but would he change his previous decision now? Would he be able to believe that God was able to help them through the troubles that would certainly come?

We each are faced with the same difficult decision of whether or not we will believe God. God’s Word, the Bible, tells us that God will forgive, how we should live, and what we are to give. From the moment we choose to believe in Jesus, we are faced with decisions. Will we let Him be the boss? Will we learn how to forgive others? Will we strive to be better people? Will our language reflect our love for God? Will we tell others about Him? Each time you read His Word or hear His Word, you are faced with a decision. Will you believe it and will you live it?

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus. (Matthew 1: 24-25)

Joseph could have kept his dream to himself and stuck to his plan to divorce Mary. He could have chosen to think that God just did not understand how difficult things would be for him, for them, if he chose to stay with Mary. He could have thought more about his own needs and chosen to ignore the needs of the world. The angel said that Jesus would save the world from their sins. Joseph decided to obey God and set aside his own selfish concerns.

We always think that our situation is worse than anyone else’s. We trick ourselves into believing that nobody can understand how difficult it is for us to let go of our selfish ways and follow God’s ways. The truth is that God understands and yet He still calls for you to let go and to trust in Him. To trust and obey. Can you do that today? Can you make the difficult decision to let Jesus be the boss of your life?