As we try to discern God’s will for us, we are often taken in directions we did not plan, or maybe even that we do not want. Yet, God is bringing about His will for us. Just like Joseph, we can’t see the whole picture. Just like Joseph, our task is to see that Jesus is brought into our part of the world. And just like Joseph, we have a choice. We can obey or we can disobey. Because Joseph obeyed God, God used him to change the world. Can He do the same with us?
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, … do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.