The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
When our youngest son Henry was four and I was doing respite care for a tiny little foster baby named Gracie, I met up with my girlfriend one afternoon for Thai food. The meal was perfect and I still remember how beautiful that day was and rolling down the windows so Henry could hold his arms out and pretend like he was flying on the drive home.
But what I had forgotten was that I left 16 eggs boiling on the stove back in my kitchen. When I pulled into our section of the neighborhood, I smelled a horrible smell that only got worse as we got closer to our house. As I pulled into the driveway I could see the smoke billowing through the windows. Henry was already out of his car seat and I grabbed Gracie and sat her in the front yard. I looked at Henry straight in his eyes and said, “stay with Gracie, I’ll be right back”. I had to leave him with her and trust that he would do exactly what I said to do. I ran inside, flipped off the stove as fast as I could as I dodged eggs that were popping everywhere and opened as many doors and windows as I could before running back outside to the front yard.
I had to trust a four year old to be obedient, and to be honest, a four year old that had been struggling with obedience. As I ran back outside to the front yard, there was Henry sitting in the grass with Gracie and he was rocking her back and forth in her car seat. I knelt down and hugged him telling him how proud I was of his obedience. He’s nine now and I still tear up thinking about how proud I was of him.
If you think about it, the Davidic line of Jesus struggled quite a bit with obedience, didn’t they? God asked them to do very specific things and to stand in obedience, but many of them got wrapped up in a whirlwind of sin and ended up in some really terrible situations. Let’s get really honest here: maybe you think your family is crazy? Just think, Jesus’ family throughout hundreds of years were murderers, liars, adulterers, and people who just outright ignored what God asked of them, forcing an entire nation into slavery. I wonder if Joseph thought about that when God told him in a dream to flee to Egypt with his family and to stay there until He told them to come back home.
We often think of obedience as a chore or a chain keeping us from doing things we really want to do, but when we have Kingdom eyes, like Joseph and Mary did, our vision changes and we get a glimpse into the dreams and plans of God. Through their obedience and partnership with God, Joseph and Mary became holy and heavenly world changers. They had a crazy family but God still trusted them. They were young and had very little life experience, but God still knew they were the people for the job. Two very unsuspecting people who wrestled with unknowns just as we do, who struggled and would ultimately lose what they fought so hard to protect, stepped into faith and changed the world. God trusted them and they were obedient. Because of that, we have reaped the blessings. God has asked us to do hard things and we may not even see the fruits of the labor. When we’re obedient to God, we most likely won’t get recognition, an award, or more social media followers, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a place of safety, peace and blessing for us.
Friends, God is still looking for the world changers, but sometimes we have to head to our own Egypt before our water turns into wine.
Danielle Noonan is a musician, worship leader and speaker who began leading music at the age of thirteen at her small church in East Texas. Danielle brings people of all ages together using her music, testimony and storytelling, giving light to the importance of an authentic prayer life, being hopeful in all things and unity amongst people. You can find out more about her HERE.