Have you ever gone to bed with your day (or maybe your next few years!) planned out, and then the next morning something happens to mess up those plans? Something so out of the ordinary, and something that just isn't logical?
That is what happened to Joseph . . . here was a respectable man with skills, integrity, and a good many customers and friends. He had a good grasp of reality; he knew just how much things cost, and how much he should charge for his wares, and he knew the value of the things you can't hold in your hands, too.
And he just found out his fiance, soon to be his wife, was pregnant.
And the child was not his. Can we even imagine? How would we feel? Wouldn't we be crushed? Disappointed wouldn't begin to describe it, I don't think. More like the world just turned upside down.
Joseph, being a respectable, fair man, knew that the logical thing would be to divorce her, and he was planning it out so that he could do it without humiliating her.
This doesn't sound like a good start for any baby, much less for a king, and especially the King Who will be the Savior of mankind. But doesn't it sound like what happens in our lives sometimes? We work so hard to plan things out, and we pat ourselves on the back for having a good grasp of reality and super-good planning abilities....and then, all of a sudden, something HUGE happens.
Something we would not have expected at all.
Perhaps we were planning on a big promotion at work -- but we found out we're fired, instead.
Maybe we're struggling to make ends meet -- and we find out we're expecting a baby.
Maybe we are expecting good results from a wellness checkup -- and the doctor says cancer.
Unexpected events and situations can turn our world upside down, and we feel lost. Looking for a way out, just like Joseph. In spite of Joseph's plans to work things out, God sent an angel to him, and asked Joseph to trust Him. He asked him to believe that Mary's pregnancy was God's plan for them, and to trust Him to take care of all three -- Joseph, Mary, and the babe.
God made the rest of the story truly amazing. A story in which Joseph not only trusts God and stays with Mary, but trusts Him as Jesus is born in a stable, and then trusts Him with the life of his little family as they flee to Egypt.
Just like Joseph, we face one thing after another in our lives, and sometimes it's something truly world-turning. God asks us to just believe that He will take care of us, to trust Him to provide for us. And if we trust Him, just as He led Joseph, He will lead us, too.
I am praying for all those who read and study with us all year, and anyone who happens to land on this blog. I pray God's blessings for you, and that you will experience the light of His love, this Christmas and in the coming new year.
See you next week!
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