December 9th, 2025 Devotional

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

Tuesday — “When Obedience Costs You Everything”

Matthew 1 • Matthew 8 • Mark 4

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THE STORY — JOSEPH: A RIGHTEOUS MAN WITH A BROKEN HEART

Before Joseph ever holds Jesus…

before the manger…

before Bethlehem…

Joseph faces a storm of his own.

Scripture tells us he was a “righteous man” (Matthew 1:19).

That means something specific in Jewish culture:

   •   He loved God.

   •   He honored the Law.

   •   He valued integrity.

   •   He cared deeply about his reputation as a man of faith.

   •   He worked with his hands (likely a carpenter/stoneworker).

   •   He was preparing a home for Mary during their legal betrothal.

WHAT BETROTHAL REALLY MEANT

In Joseph’s culture:

   •   A couple was legally married for one full year before living together.

   •   During that year, the husband prepared the home.

   •   The wife remained with her parents.

   •   There was no physical relationship until the ceremony and procession.

   •   Breaking a betrothal required a legal divorce.

   •   Sexual unfaithfulness during this period was considered adultery.

Joseph was doing everything right.

Building. Planning. Saving.

Waiting faithfully for the day he would bring Mary home.

Then Mary returns from visiting Elizabeth…

and she is pregnant.

Nothing in Joseph’s theology, experience, or imagination could explain this.

THE WAVES HIT HIS LIFE

Joseph has a broken heart and a broken plan.

Scripture says:

“He had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

That one line tells us:

   •   He believed Mary had betrayed him.

   •   He refused to shame her publicly.

   •   He wanted to protect her from execution or lifelong disgrace.

   •   He chose mercy over revenge.

This is the kind of man Joseph was.

But mercy wasn’t the end of his story.

Because God was about to ask him to get into the boat —

and the waves would rise higher than he ever expected.

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THE ANGEL VISITS JOSEPH — HIS “GET IN THE BOAT” MOMENT

That night, as Joseph wrestled with grief, betrayal, and confusion, an angel appeared in a dream:

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.

What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

This wasn’t just reassurance —

this was a divine assignment.

God wasn’t asking Joseph to “accept” the situation.

God was asking Joseph to:

   •   raise a child who was not his own

   •   live with the constant whispers of scandal

   •   protect the Messiah

   •   trust what he could not explain

   •   walk into a storm he never asked for

This was Joseph’s Matthew 8 moment.

The boat was leaving the shore.

The waves were already rising.

And Joseph had a choice:

   •   Stay with logic

   •   Or follow the Lord into mystery

Joseph woke up and did exactly what the angel commanded.

He took Mary home.

He entered the storm.

He got in the boat.

And God was with him.

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THE STORY — HUDSON TAYLOR: GETTING IN THE BOAT TO CHINA

Hundreds of years later, a young British man named Hudson Taylor faced the same kind of invitation.

HIS BACKGROUND

   •   Born into a devout Methodist family

   •   Raised to pray for the nations

   •   Trained as a medical assistant

   •   Called at a young age to China — long before it was safe or reachable

   •   Burdened for the millions who had never heard the gospel

Most missionaries stayed in the port cities.

They lived in Western compounds, ate Western food, and kept Western customs.

But Hudson Taylor sensed that Jesus was calling him into deeper water—

the inland regions of China, untouched by missionaries and filled with danger.

So he dressed like the Chinese.

He shaved his head and wore a long pigtail like the local men.

He ate their food.

He lived among them.

He gave up every comfort of England.

THE WAVES HIT HARD

Disease.

Starvation.

Loneliness.

Political uprisings.

Violent mobs.

The death of his wife and children.

But one story captures the “storm” he faced better than almost any other.

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THE STORM THAT ALMOST TOOK HIS LIFE

While traveling by boat along the Chinese coast, Hudson fell violently ill with a fever that left him barely conscious.

A storm rolled in.

The small Chinese junk he was traveling in began taking on water.

The winds howled so fiercely the sails shredded.

The crew panicked.

At one point, a massive wave crashed over the side and threw Hudson against the rail.

He slipped — and nearly fell overboard.

One sailor grabbed him by his clothes at the last second.

The crew shouted that the boat could not survive the night.

They feared the ship would break apart.

Hudson later wrote:

“I was brought to the very edge of eternity.

The waves were too much for us.

But they were not too much for Him.”

He believed God spared him because his mission in inland China was not yet complete.

Like Joseph…

Like Mary…

Like the disciples…

Hudson learned that obedience brings you into storms —

but never alone.

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THE DEVOTION — WHEN OBEDIENCE COSTS YOU EVERYTHING

Joseph obeyed when it made no earthly sense.

Hudson obeyed when it nearly cost him his life.

Both discovered the same truth:

Waves are not a sign that God abandoned you.

Waves are a sign that Jesus is in the boat with you.

Following Jesus will cost something.

Sometimes it will cost everything.

But His presence is always worth the price.

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THREE REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Where is God asking me to obey even though it defies logic, comfort, or cultural expectations — like Joseph?

2. What storm am I facing today that might actually be confirmation that I’m exactly where Jesus wants me?

3. How does Hudson Taylor’s courage inspire me to trust God when the waves feel “too much”?

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WORSHIP SONG FOR TODAY

“Trust in God” — Elevation Worship

A declaration that God is faithful in the storm, faithful in the waves, faithful when obedience costs everything.

Jesus…

Thank You for meeting me in the places where obedience is hard…

where the waves feel high…

and where my heart feels stretched beyond what I understand.

Like Joseph, I want to trust You even when the story doesn’t make sense.

Like the disciples, I want to stay in the boat even when fear tells me to run.

Like Hudson Taylor, I want to follow You into deeper waters —

knowing Your presence is worth more than my comfort, my plans, or my own understanding.

Lord, You see the parts of my life today where obedience feels costly.

You see the decisions I’m wrestling with…

the storms I’m standing in…

and the places where I feel tired or afraid.

Would You speak to me the way You spoke to Joseph —

“Do not be afraid.”

Would You steady my heart the way You steadied the waves —

with one word of Your authority.

Would You remind me again that I am not alone —

that You are in the boat, even when You seem quiet.

Give me courage to obey.

Give me peace in the storm.

Give me faith that holds onto You when nothing around me feels stable.

And Jesus…

thank You that no wave I face is ever too big for You.

Thank You that Your plans for my life are good,

Your presence is near,

and Your love is steady.

I place this day — and every storm — into Your hands.

Amen.