There is a spiritual principle we need to learn from Mathew 1:20. The Bible says,
"But while he (Joseph) thought about these things, behold, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying…"
God spoke to Joseph while he was thinking about the challenge he was faced with. While he thought, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and brought God's word to him. The principle is this; while we think, God speaks to us. When we positively engage our minds, we connect to the Spirit and gain access to divine ideas. This is why the scriptures teach us to meditate day and night in the Word of God. As you read and think about the letters, you receive the Rhema. You cannot receive the Rhema if you are not committed to reading and thinking about the letters. When you read and think of the Word, God takes you from the known to the unknown. The information in the scriptures transforms into a revelation as you meditate. God's word jumps at you. You find a guideword as you seek direction, a password as you seek solution to the problems of life and a watchword when you need inspiration.
Perhaps, the reason God has not spoken or appeared to you on that matter is that you have not spent time to think and reason with God about it. You are too busy to think. It is why you are sinking in the pool of the challenges of life. Look at Joseph; he was looking forward to his wedding. He's known by many to be a person of integrity but suddenly his fiancé was found to be pregnant. Nothing breaks a young man than finding out that your girlfriend got pregnant for another man when your wedding is imminent especially when you have plighted your troth. Joseph thus withdrew from the pressure and the confusion he was faced with. He located a place where he could think and began to reason out the matter with God and so the scriptures told us that…
"…while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.''
How our problems and challenges have lingered because we have failed to find time to think. Take note that the Bible did not say Joseph prayed about these things; he thought about them. Joseph knew when to pray and when to think. You might have been praying but have you taken time out to think? Joseph's experience proves to us that God speaks to us when we think. When we think, we secure inspiration and access to novel ideas. When we think, we go into depths that we would ordinarily never get. Thinking or meditation launches us out of the natural into the supernatural, from the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Perhaps, what you need now is thinking through not praying through. That was what Joseph did. He spent time to think through his marital crisis and he came up with a solution. If he had not spent time to think, he would have taken a decision that would take him out of his God-ordained destiny to be the earthly father of Jesus.
What did God say in Isaiah chapter one verse eighteen? "Come now, and let us reason together…" God calls for a mental engagement. He invites us to reason together with Him. He invites us for an intelligent discusses or talks about the matter. "Let's come to a reasonable conclusion," He says. This implies that God himself thinks and he encourages us to think. We can thus conclude that thinking is a commandment of God. We must engage our minds in positive and profitable thinking. What happens in our thoughts will eventually happen in our lives and what is not in our thoughts cannot be in our life.
Isaiah chapter one verse eighteen tells us that every problem has a solution and every question has an answer. There is no impossibility when we give our mind to it. Our sins, though are like scarlet, can become white as snow. Even if they are red like crimson, they can be as wool if we go to God and reason together with him about them. God invites us to think. When we go to Him, He will show us the solution to our problems and the answers to our questions.
Isaac was a thinker. He goes out regularly to the field to meditate. Genesis chapter twenty-four verse sixty-three tells us that Isaac left the house. He knew he could be distracted by the things around him in the house. Therefore, he left home and went into the field in the evening when the sun was already setting and spent time to meditate. In this single verse, we see Isaac doing three things that helped him to think effectively.
1. He went out. He decided and he left where he was. He left the house. He disciplined himself so he could meditate.
2. He went to the field. Isaac understood the importance of location in effective meditation. He went to a serene and quiet environment. This is why thinkers and writers most times seek a tranquil location to do their business. In the field, there would be green grasses. Hence, Isaac would be inspired by nature.
3. He went in the evening. This has to do with timing of the exercise. Isaac went out to meditate in the cool of the day. It was after the day's work. Isaac went out to renew his mind with the word and the purpose of God.
What was the result of his time of meditation? The Bible said, "And he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming." These were the camels bringing his wife. Isaac's desire was already coming towards him after a period of meditation. This is what happens when we meditate. Our desires begin to gravitate towards us because our thought is already pulling them towards us like magnet. By Genesis chapter 26, Isaac had become the envy of the philistines among whom he lived because he was able to generate ideas through thinking that helped him to grow his crops in the absence of rain.
It is time to identify the challenges you face in each aspect of your life and think through on each of them. I can assure you that while you think about these things, just like Joseph you will have solution to each of your problems.
Finally, Philippians 4:8 says,
"...keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable." GWT
1Timothy 4:15 also says, "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." NKJV
It is time to think!
ACTION QUESTIONS
1. What areas of your life do you need to take time out to think about?
2. What have being hindering you from effective and consistent meditation?
3. What tools, materials, or skills do you need to think effectively and consistently?
4. When do you want to get back to deliberate effectively?