Two men, Ahaz, the King of Judah, and Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, both descendants of David, were faced with situations in which they had to trust God. Ahaz faced the threat of the loss of his throne by foreign conquest. The prophet Isaiah offered a reassuring sign from God, which Ahaz refused because he had more trust in earthly military means than he did in the Lord. Isaiah announced God would give the sign anyway.
The sign, that a virgin would conceive and bear a son, was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. Joseph had his own personal crisis – his betrothed wife was expecting, and he knew he wasn’t the father. But he responded in faith when God sent a message through the angel that the baby had been conceived through the Holy Spirit. His trust meant that he fulfilled his calling to be the foster father of Emmanuel, “God is with us.”
Stewardship also is a matter of trust in God, trust that he will provide us with what we need if we view our time, talent, and treasure as God’s, to whom we are responsible for our use of them. When we question whether accepting the challenge of living as good stewards is really a wise decision, we need to ask ourselves how much we trust God.
