SOAP is an acronym that I get from Dr. DeVries' Six-Word Lessons to Discover Missional Living (excellent, I highly suggest it) and it stands for Scripture, Observe, Apply, & Pray (SOAP). I added the last S which stands for Share.
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Matthew 1:20
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
I observe in this passage that God showed up.
Joseph was reasonably upset and troubled that his fiance was pregnant because they had not yet consummated their marriage. As he considered how best to handle the situation he had a dream and God showed up directing him on how to proceed.
The scripture calls Joseph a "righteous man" and I'm guessing this is why he didn't just dismiss Mary on the spot, but it says that he didn't want to publicly shame her. If it had been me I would have likely reacted with a knee-jerk and called Jerry Springer or something. But Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to destroy her publicly.
Then in a dream God showed up and gave Joseph understanding of the situation and guidance.
Did you know that God shows up for us too? When we are faced with a difficult situation and we humbly take it to God, seriously wanting his guidance, he shows up. Maybe not in a dream, but maybe through the simple reading of the Scriptures, the holy wisdom of a friend, or even a rough message scratched into the back wall of a porta-potty (Seriously, ask Pastor Josh from Evident Church about how that worked.) but when we call out to him, God shows up.
And in those times when He doesn't show up?
Face it, there are times when God just doesn't show up to the Tango and that's super-frustrating. But I attribute that to a few reasons:
1) God doesn't care about what we think he should care about. Have you ever asked God to bless your football team and help them win. He may care (and I doubt it) but maybe he just cares more about the other team.
2) God may have showed up but you may be missing the point of what He is doing. Just recently I recalled a prayer that I asked God for a year before the answer came. When the answer came I had forgotten the original prayer and totally missed what was going on. I held it against God for years for not showing up.
3) Or He may have said "NO" or "WAIT" and it is taking a lot longer for God to join the dance than we are comfortable with. I often jest and say "If God does anything in less than 40 years, you're beating the Biblical average. (Word! Have you ever read the Old Testament?)
I don't know what you are going through and calling out to God for today but I encourage you to wait on God and keep your eyes pealed because Joseph shows us that--God shows up.
(Order a copy of DeVries' Six Word Lessons from Amazon here: http://a.co/d/1CropEG)
