Choosing Difficulty

This is the time of year a Babe who humbly entered the world is celebrated. This is the time of year God's Goodness came to earth. This is the time of year we marvel at a faithful, obedient young virgin and struggle to imagine the shock she must have felt on hearing of God's plan for her life. This is the time of year the selections we read or the sermons we hear make mention of, but usually gloss over, all God had in store for a man who simply wanted to take a wife. Matthew 1, tells us Joseph was a man who kept the law of Moses. The Bible doesn't tell us of his romantic feelings for Mary. We're not told if he chose her, or if his family pushed the issue. Tradition says Joseph was an older man; Mary was in her early teens. I imagine Joseph, having his own business, a small cache of regular customers. I imagine him working all day, coming home late in the evening to a meal of vegetables and some barley bread, praying and heading off to bed. Stable, quiet, routine, drama free. Taking a wife should have been a time of blessing. Taking a wife should have provided him with a helper. some children, someone to keep their home. But before any of that could be -- difficulty. 

Mary was "found to be pregnant." How? I think many of us assume Mary told Joseph as soon as possible; but "found" to be pregnant doesn't quite sound like that. We know she spent some time away at her cousin, Elizabeth's. When she came back was her baby bump showing? Were tongues wagging? Imagine if Joseph had heard through the grapevine. The law said he was innocent, and she was not; he was a victim, and she the criminal. Everything he'd been taught since he was a child, said she could be stoned or, at the least, exposed as an adulteress and his name cleared. Instead, he chose to divorce her quietly. And simply for that we can admire him. Showing grace although his heart may have been broken. Taking the higher road despite having to endure all those looks of pity and being made the subject of whispers. For choosing to be righteous rather than right. But God had other plans -- difficulty.

God didn't want Joseph to simply show grace to Mary. God didn't want Joseph to simply demonstrate righteousness in his dealing with her, to be godly and move on. God's plan was for Joseph to be inextricably linked to her -- a young woman thought to be an adulteress -- and to the greatest Gift mankind would ever know. The angel messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream, reassuring him of Mary's innocence, exposing God's plan, and giving Joseph some very clear, very unconventional instructions: take Mary into your home and name her son Yeshua (Savior, Deliverer). Matthew 1:24, tells us that when Joseph awoke, he did just what God, through the angel, had told him to do. Once God gave the command, there is no record of any further struggle. God said it; Joseph did it.

Joseph searched for a suitable place in Bethlehem for he and his wife to stay. Joseph had tended to Mary when she delivered God's Son. Joseph continued to watch over them and seek protection for his family by consulting the One who could best lead them to safety. Joseph led his family in faith and the observation of God's laws. Joseph loved Jesus and cared for Him as a good father cares for his own son. Joseph demonstrated time after time, through obedience, his love for God and love for God's plans. His efforts weren't half-hearted. He followed God's direction as faithfully and explicitly as if this life was all he ever wanted. We don't see that he treated Mary with any sort of bitterness or demanded from God any sort of refund. We see quiet, steadfast obedience, despite whatever expectations he had. Despite the difficulty.

We like to think God's plans will keep us safe. We like to think God's plans will be easy. What we find is, sometimes, when we are squarely fixed dead-center of God's will, we are neither safe nor comfortable. The storms, the uncertainties, the grief, the pain may just be part of God's plan; but we can find comfort and courage in knowing that if God has allowed it, God will redeem it. None of us can comprehend all of time or all of humanity, but God can, and He has a BIG plan for all of it. He is the infinite Master of everything, and the intimate Shepherd of the least of us. He will not betray us or go back on any of His promises in any way. If He is working for our good (and He is, Rom. 8:28) and He is sovereign over all (and He is, Col. 1:16-17), we have only to choose trust -- no matter our circumstances -- and know that He is doing something glorious. His plans may not be easy, and His plans may not be safe, but His plans are always perfect. We have only to choose to believe that. What better example than the guy standing quietly in the background of every creche, faithfully, obediently, keeping watch over a King.