Trying Time

Imagine having all your plans turned upside down in an instant. 

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. - Matthew 1:18-25

What would have happened to Mary if Joseph had just quietly walked away? 

Joseph was ready to do that, knowing it would have been extremely hard for Mary to manage on her own with a child on the way.  But what else could he do, knowing the child wasn't his?

Surely Mary must have explained what happened.  Did he not believe her?

Could he have believed and walked away?

After the angel visited him in a dream, he changed his mind, so he must have doubted her story before.

Joseph may represent all of us in this story.  We are fine with the program until things don't go the way we expect or desire, and then we are challenged to accept something more complicated and demanding of our faith and patience.

His reaction is typical.  His initial focus is on how the news will affect him.  He chooses to remove himself from the problem.

I wonder if there was real love there.

For if we truly love one another, wouldn't we stick together?

We don't get to know much about Joseph once the child is born.  He simply fades away, leaving Mary to deal with the strange behavior of this son who God has chosen.

When Mary accepted God's call to bear a child, she had not consulted Joseph.  Perhaps she just assumed God would find a way to convince Joseph to stay, for she knew he would choose to leave.

Can we do that?  Can we accept God's call in total faith?

Maybe that's the true message of Christmas, to be willing to let God be the focus of our lives.

And if we cannot do that at first, we can think of Joseph and know that God will find a way to help us deal with the challenges in life.

More to come...