It’s the season to take our invitation to rest from that quiet, supporting actor, and the nativity scene.
During my two pregnancies, I thought quite a bit about Mary when December rolled around, but I can relate more to Joseph as an ordinary person with a more regular life.
Joseph unwittingly finds himself on the cosmic stage of this incredible drama—simply because he got engaged to Mary. He doesn’t have much visibility as a supporting actor, either. Joseph takes his family to Egypt and back, helps Mary track down 12 year-old Jesus on a trip to Jerusalem (where Jesus points out who his real father is), and that’s pretty much it for the record).”
We don’t even know how Joseph exits the stage.
To be sure, Joseph wasn’t an afterthought for God. His role is critical. However, while Mary’s calling comes as an official announcement (from an angel, no less), Joseph is introduced to the story when his betrothed shows up pregnant—with a story that’s impossible to believe.
Can you imagine the feeling of betrayal? And the urge to set the record straight right away (“It wasn’t me everyone!”)?
Joseph is a good man. He wants to do the right thing. He doesn’t want to shame Mary, so he does a great deal of thinking (mulling it over) and decides to break up quietly.
And then… he sleeps on the decision.
Was this a little nap or a full night’s sleep? We don’t know.
All we know is that (Matthew 1:24):
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him…”
(Oh yes, God finally filled him in on what was going on—in a dream).
You may be thinking that I’m about to talk about how we need to pause (take a little rest) before we react or make big decisions. But we already know that.
The invitation to rest tucked into this story is that God is big enough to work with our decisions and he can and does intervene. We can trust him. We can let go of the pressure to nail it every time and believe that God is working all things out in the bigger picture.
Life is a messy process of learning. Life is not a performance where we pass perfectly from scene to scene.
Perhaps we don’t have to agonize so much over our decisions. Perhaps we can do our best (like Joseph), and trust God to redirect us if necessary.
“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’).” (From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 1).
I appreciate how the angel:
calls Joseph by name
tells him not to be afraid
lets him know that the Holy Spirit is at work
assures Joseph that he’s at work, fulfilling his prophecies and promises
May your rest be sweet,
Alicia
I love this! Thank you, Alicia!!