After the last post, and pondering how Mary responded to God’s message, I’ve been wondering how other people in the Bible reacted to a word from the Lord. For instance, Joseph. There is not one recorded word in the scriptures from the mouth of Joseph. In fact, almost every time he’s mentioned, he’s sleeping. God speaks to Joseph four times, each time in a dream. God is always telling Joseph to “get up”. To Joseph’s credit, what follows is, “so he got up” — but not a word. He must have been the strong silent type.

Now, take Moses. God speaks to him from a burning bush about delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. After giving God four reasons why he is not the man for the job, Moses finally just spits out, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” It reminds me of trying to find someone to teach the Junior High Sunday school class.

Then there’s Isaiah. God said, “Whom shall I send?” and Isaiah is like the kid in the back row of the 3rd grade classroom who desperately wants to be the first one to give the answer to the teacher. Isaiah shoots his hand up in the air and almost falls out of his seat, saying “Ooo, oo, oo, me! Send me!!! Pick me!!!” God must have loved that. Especially after dealing with Moses.

Demure Mary, quiet Joseph, reticent Moses, enthusiastic Isaiah – God used them all, regardless of the adjective before their name.