So, as you may know Christmas is my favorite time of year. Cliché? Maybe, but I’ll stand by it. You know, as much as I love Christmas, I’m still amazed at how much more there is always to learn about our savior and His love for us.
Christians have this term. We call the Bible the “Living Word of God.” Sounds a little funny to call a book “living” doesn’t it? But the more I read it and the older I get, the more I realize just how true that is. It’s incredible, actually! To read the same passages with new eyes and to glean new wisdom, new challenges, new insights each time. It truly is God-breathed, the living word.
God uses His word to speak into our lives, to sharpen us, and to shape us and mold us into the men and women He designed us to be. That’s my heart’s deepest desire. I want to be who God made me to be. He designed me, formed me, breathed life into me, and planned out the path He wanted my life to follow. What a comfort! What a wonder! To know that God knows me so intimately, so deeply. And to know that He loves me. He’s got me! I’m in His hands and He will guide me.
He promises that, to guide us. He says He will direct our steps (Proverbs). And He says He has plans for us (Jerimiah). His promises are plentiful and if you take a moment to pause and reflect upon them, to bury them deep within your heart, you will reap the joy and peace that comes with knowing your Father and relying upon His word. They will see you through even the darkest of nights.
I’ve shared before about storms in life. It’s something I’m currently learning about and facing. God is working in me, teaching me to trust in Him—an answered prayer really. You see, I have trust issues. I struggle to let people in and to depend on others. I like doing things for myself, because I know that way they’ll get done and they’ll get done right. But God has been showing me that it’s okay to trust Him, it’s okay to let go and to walk in faith. That isn’t always an easy thing. In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite.
As Christmas draws near, God led me to look at the Christmas story through new eyes and to consider what my pastor called “the forgotten Christmas character.” Joseph.
You laugh. But how many times do we write Joseph off? He’s right, my pastor. We consider him briefly and then move on. We wonder at the miracle of Christ’s birth and revere His mother, Mary. But God chose Joseph and I think we can learn from that. And, as it would seem, Joseph was no stranger to dark nights and stormy skies. He, too, had to learn to trust God and walk by faith. I want to take tonight to look at what my pastor said and show you how I received it through the lens of what God’s been doing in my own heart this past year or two.
You may know the story. You may not. But either way, consider there may be something new to learn. There was for me. So, indulge me as I give what may seem basics for the story. Let me set the stage here.
Joseph was an Israelite carpenter who lived in a town called Nazareth. He was just an ordinary man with an ordinary life. He had an ordinary plan for his ordinary life. He wanted to build a home, marry, and have a family. It’s a simple life, one he could dream of and build with his own two hands, a life he could be happy in. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.
Joseph was betrothed to Mary, the ordinary girl next door in our small, ordinary town of Nazareth. She was quiet and followed the rules. And Joseph liked that. He chose her because he wanted to live a godly life and he knew she would be a virtuous wife. We know this because Matt. 1:19 tells us Joseph was a righteous man.
So, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Ordinary man. Ordinary plan.
We all know the story. Joseph lived in a time and a culture where appearances were important, and Mary turning up pregnant before they were wed was an obvious mistake. Joseph knew it wasn’t his child. Can you imagine the heartbreak? The panic? His reputation was on the line! His love had betrayed him and now he was tainted by it as well as she. He was a righteous man, a man who wanted a simple life. And Mary had just complicated it. Severely.
Joseph felt the raw and utter pain of Mary’s betrayal. The woman who had given him his word that she would be faithful to him, the woman he had sworn to spend the rest of his life with, the woman he’d dreamed of building a life and starting a family with had strayed. She’d chosen another man and that after promising to wait for him! She’d spit in his face by this. Made a fool of him. Betrayed him. Rejected him.
Not only was Joseph hurt by Mary’s choices and shocked that the woman he’d once revered as godly and virtuous—for he must have if he’d chosen to marry her as a righteous man and dreamed to build his ordinary life with her—but he was also put in a very tight social position. Mary’s choices were a reflection on him. His association with her was a reflection on his morals and values. And that certainly didn’t fit into his plan.
The community now shunned her, and would shun him by association depending on how he decided to handle things. Joseph had a choice: stone her or show mercy and shuffle her away quietly to live out the rest of her life in misery with the consequences of her decision. But he was a righteous man. So he chose to spare her.
That didn’t mean he would wed her though! That would be social suicide, not to mention hard to swallow as a husband! Would she cheat again? There would always be doubt. And the child! Oh, the child! He would forever be a reminder of the betrayal, reopening the wound every time he so much as looked at Joseph. No, it would be far better to let her live in her shame and raise her child separate from him.
Winds roared and rain poured down on Joseph. This was far from what he’d laid out. If I were Joseph, I would have looked up to heaven and asked some questions. Why didn’t I see this coming? Shouldn’t I have recognized this in her? What did I do wrong? What have I done to deserve this? Is this somehow my fault? What are you doing to me God? I just wanted a good life with a woman I could love. Why couldn’t she have waited? And with tears streaming down my face, I’d have bowed my head in defeat, swallowing past the lump in my throat and struggling to breathe through the weight in my chest. Then I’d have asked one more question…Now what?
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Alright, guys, I’m going to leave you with that. I want you to sit in the dark for a minute and imagine the feelings and thoughts Joseph dealt with in this moment. I don’t want to fly past this because it’s important. We all too often brush past Joseph, but he was just as human as you or I. He felt the same things we do and had to process them just like us. When we come back, I’ll pick up here and we’ll see how Joseph pulled out of this dark storm.
Love always,
Coralie