Advent Week Four

But just when he had resolved to do break up with Mary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Recently, I heard this wisdom: “Easy decisions, hard life. Hard decisions, easy life.”

This angel of the Lord asked Joseph to make a hard decision. Breaking up with her would be easy in the short term, but harder long term. Sticking with her and her child which was not his? Hard decision, easy life.

Here’s another Advent wake up call. What easy decisions are you making? It could be one momentous decision, like Joseph was considering. Or it could be a pattern of smaller, day-to-day decisions.

Most of the time, when we take the “easy decisions, hard life” route we find a way to blame someone else for our hard life. Blame is another easy decision that just makes life harder.

God wants an easy life for you. So look out for angels of the Lord. They may appear to you in a dream, like Joseph’s did, or in some other unlikely fashion. They will ask you to do something hard. Prepare yourself now: you will want to fight the angel. Consider Joseph, and the life of grace and joy made possible by this hard decision.

Talk to Jesus now about the hard decisions you’re facing.
-PC