Joseph
So, Joseph.
Sweet teenage boy. Engaged to his girl. Looking forward to the up-coming wedding, to his fiancee becoming his wife, to living a quiet, respectable life in society.
And then, THIS.
"I'm pregnant."
The room spins a little bit. Is it hot in here? What did she say? Surely not pregnant? She's joking. Haha. Joke’s on me, right? Right? What? When? Now what? What in the world?
"I'm pregnant."
Her dad is going to kill me. My dad is going to kill me. I'm dead meat and I did nothing.
"I'm pregnant."
I am supposed to hear these words out of her mouth about MY baby. Not someone else's.
"I'm pregnant."
His world is spinning. What felt like faith now looks like failure. He needs a way out.
But he loves her and he is a noble man.
He is chagrined but noble. Humiliated but honorable. Distressed but upstanding.
I just adore Joseph. Some men would be in a flying rage, embarrassed and out to blame. Not Joseph. He's God's man in this. And God makes sure to reinforce that with a message in a dream.
Stay in the game, Joseph. This is the most unexpected news, but expect Me to be in it. Because I am. I always Am. I Am.
Dreams and Angels and Babies. What a Christmas. Seriously, Christmas is outlandish! It's WAY over the top. Virgins and Shepherds and a Choir in the sky? Unbelievable. Unless you believe. Which is the fun part. The faith part. The fantastic part.
Joseph made plans to "take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced." I have no idea what kind of plans he had, but I know one thing: he had grace in his heart for Mary.
Just like God had grace in His heart for us. Joseph's heart mirrors the One he is about to raise.
What a gift to everyone involved. God keeps unexpectedly giving good gifts in the Christmas story. We turn the page and we find another. Joseph.
Something else to note: God loved Joseph and had a plan to bless him and have a relationship with him. He wanted to increase Joseph's faith in this outlandish virgin birth plan. So He gave him a dream and an angel. What a Good Dad He is! He loves His kids and loves to help them, give them good things, show them the way.
Maybe the next time something seems outlandish and straight up impossible in our lives (in our infertility, in our broken marriage, in our jobs, in our loneliness, in our depression, in our move across the country) we can recall Joseph. We can remember God in Joseph's impossible story. We can expect the unexpected to help us believe. We can remember that God is very FOR us and loves us with a gift-giving love. Thank God.
Today, Joseph.
Cheers,
Amy