Happy Sabbath friends! In the previous blog post, we went over the story of Mary, and how it was brought upon her by the Lord that she would be carrying a son despite being a virgin still. During this time, she was with Joseph. Today we are going to cover Joseph’s perspective when he found out that Mary would be carrying a child before they were even married.

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
Matthew 1:18-25 NIV

Before an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, he had plans to discreetly divorce Mary. I would assume from reading this that he was afraid of what the world would say about the fact that Mary was pregnant before being married AND if the baby was even his. Mary could’ve lied, and been with someone else, even though that would’ve been terrible, but I can see Joseph’s fears in the matter. The truth is, during this time, Joseph did not put his complete trust in the Lord. It wasn’t until the angel of the Lord spoke to him that Joseph’s mind was changed. I am sure we have had moments in our lives where we try to control situations all on our own. Joseph was going to try to handle this situation on his own because he was fearful of what the world would think, instead of thinking about what the Lord would think. When Joseph surrendered to what the angel of the Lord commanded, that is when he was blessed with Jesus as his earthly son. Isn’t that such a blessing? If we just surrender ourselves over to the Lord, we will be abundantly filled with blessings, and some may be unexpected, but we know that all things that come from above will be ultimately for our good.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17 NIV

I pray over those who are reading this message that they are blessed by the story of Joseph finding out that Mary was pregnant with Jesus. May we apply this story of Joseph and Mary to our lives. Lord Jesus please speak to everyone reading this message. Touch our hearts and souls. Help us to surrender ourselves over to You, and put our complete trust in the fact that all things from above are for our good and is perfect because it is coming from our Heavenly Father. Help us to truly believe in our hearts that Your plans are bigger than our own. We may have goals, plans, and expectations in our lives, but help us to put our complete hope and trust in You as only You know what is in store for our lives, and what is ultimately best for us.

Amen.