by Pastor Rich Carlson

Jesus’ longest trip happened when he was only a baby. When the angel spoke to Joseph and told him to leave because of Herod’s jealousy he obeyed immediately and hiked with Mary and Jesus over 200 miles southward to Egypt.

The part I like in this section of the Gospels is Joseph’s responses to God’s instructions. The angel spoke twice to this man, tasked with the responsibility of being the father to the Son of God. First, “Get up and go to Egypt,” (verse 13) then probably a few years later, “Get up and go home” (verses 19 and 20).

We often get bombarded by cultural relativism, so Joseph’s response may surprise us. “So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel” (verse 21).

Joseph demonstrated confident, selfless obedience to God. He returned to Israel without arguing, debating, or asking what was in it for him. Joseph just obeyed. That takes a high level of trust in the One commanding.

I believe post-modernism (or cultural relativism) is the result of two things:

1. Individuals thinking they themselves are the most important part of any situation or decision

2. Individuals not having a connection of confidence with God

However, when we realize life is not solely about us but that it is all about God, we will move past cultural relativism into cultural “absolutism” as it relates to God and our willingness to allow Him to guide. There will still be a lot of things in life that won’t have answers, but trust in God will yield explanations in time. Once we comprehend Joseph’s actions, we can more fully realize that obedience is both humble and confident.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.