Epiphany Day 9 Joseph’s Lullaby

Joseph sings baby Jesus to sleep. He knows there are great things for his Child to do in His lifetime, but for now, it’s time to sleep.

I LOVE this song! It is the complement to Mary Did You Know; which I fell in love with the first time I heard it.

God chose Joseph to be the father to His Son. Can you imagine the enormity of that weight on Joseph’s shoulders? KNOWING that the Baby you are holding is God’s Son. Also knowing that it is your task to raise Him. Do you handle Him like glass? Is He fragile? Do you ‘toughen’ Him up? What exactly does God expect from you? What does He expect from His Son at the different ages and stages? Will He be like any other child? Will He be ‘God like’ in His early years?

Some men might be tempted to take a ‘hands off’ approach and let His mother, whom God CERTAINLY chose, to do the ‘heavy lifting’ when it comes to His care. But God chose Joseph too. He must have had a reason.

I can imagine him praying for guidance, probably EVERY DAY since he learned of his role. He is charged with keeping God’s Son safe. He has to keep Him fed and clothed. He has to teach Him a trade. He has to see to His education. He has to guide His spiritual growth. He even has to teach Him to walk and talk! Imagine speaking baby talk to the Son of God lying in your arms! Talk about your ‘precious moments’!

But right now, Joseph needs to help Jesus’ mother. He needs to give her rest. So he and Jesus have some ‘one on one’ bonding time. Joseph sings his Son to sleep, knowing full well that this Child is different from every other child ever before, yet also the same. He needs sleep as much as His mother. For right now dear Child, rest and sleep. Tomorrow will care for itself.

Tomorrow will care for itself is something we ALL need to remember. I can’t count the times I’ve lain awake at night thinking over the things I have to do the next day or week. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). I wonder how many sleepless nights I could have avoided if I followed this command of Jesus.

I know that raising a child takes a bit of forward thinking but even here, you have to turn it over to God. And that was probably the thing that Joseph had going for him best of all. His child wasn’t his and Mary’s alone to raise. He was God’s own Son so God would most certainly have an active role in His life. More weighty but more responsible for the outcome.

God promises to help us as we raise our children too. He gave us His ‘instruction manual’ with His word. Not quite the same as when He sent Joseph dreams but those instances were critical points in the life of His Son. I wonder how many other dreams Joseph had that we don’t know about. Another question to ask when I get to Heaven.

Father God, thank You for my children. Thank You for walking with me as I raised them the best I could. I KNOW I made mistakes. I KNOW I left scars on their souls. I PRAY You were able to smooth out those rough patches and undo some of the damage I did. I should have trusted You more and brought more of our issues to You instead of ‘powering through’ on my own.

I pray for my grandchildren Father. I pray they learn of Your love and come to know You personally. I pray for my children that they return to You; those that have wandered. I put them all AGAIN into Your hands. Help me leave them there!

Thank You for the times when I KNOW You supported me as a parent! I NEVER want to forget or gloss over those times. Thank You for their laughter and for Your hands on us.