Back To the Basics

In the Bible there are numerous accounts of people who heard from God and Joseph, Jesus' step-daddy =), was no exception. Now when writing about relationships I tend to focus on Ruth and Boaz because I think their relationship serves as a great example of love and happiness, but today I'm gonna focus on Joseph and his Boo, Mary. Mary and Joseph give us an example of what to do when the unexpected occurs within a relationship.

Matthew begins to give us a little background information about their relationship in Matthew 1:18 and continues through the end of the chapter.

Joseph was engaged to Mary when all of a sudden she comes to him and tells him that she's pregnant. Joseph knows that he is not the father so this news is quite unexpected. I would imagine the conversation went a little something like this (Disclaimer: This is a facetious conversation therefore it should not be taken literally.)

"Hey Boo."

"Hey Mary. What's up baby?"

"Well, speaking of babies... um, I'm pregnant."

"You what?!? I thought you were a virgin."

"I am. Let me explain before you get all upset. See what had happened was... This angel just came up out of nowhere and at first I was scared but then the angel told me not to be scared because God favors me and He wants me to have His baby. Then I was like how because I've never been with a dude like that. Then he told me the Holy Spirit was gonna come up on me and then I was like well do what You do God. I mean, He's God. I wasn't just gon' tell Him no... So yeah, now I'm pregnant."

Now Joseph was a righteous man so there was probably no cussing and fussing after Mary's announcement. The Bible said that he did not want her to be disgraced publicly so in his mind he was considering breaking the engagement quietly. However, while he was thinking it over an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and told him that was Mary was saying is true and that he should marry her and name the baby boy Jesus. When Joseph woke up he did just what the angel commanded him to do and he married Mary. Also, although they were married he abstained from having sex with her until after Jesus was born so Mary remained a virgin until after the birth of Jesus.

(There are several key points that I want you to take away from this message so I'm gonna just break it down like #1, #2, #3...)

1.  Talk About It and Be Truthful: Communication is key when in a relationship. No matter how bad the situation seems it's usually better to talk about the it rather than have your partner find out some other way. Mary knew that there was a possibility that Joseph might leave her when he found out that she was pregnant even though she had done nothing wrong. She made the best decision because instead of hiding the pregnancy from him she went to him and told him the truth and left him to make his decision with him knowing everything that was going on with her.

2.  Don't Make Hasty Decisions: Sometimes as humans we let our emotions get the best of us and we end up making permanent decisions about temporary situations. Joseph took time to think things over and that allowed God the opportunity to send an angel to him in a dream. Don't react immediately when your partner tells you something you might not want to hear. Take a minute and think about it and most importantly pray about it before you make your decision. Although, what your partner says may be news to you, it's never news to Him. Remember, He always has a master plan so you make sure that what you do is in line with what He wants done. 

3.  Be Receptive and Obedient to What God Has to Say: In Joseph's mind he probably thought that the best thing to do for both his sake and the sake of Mary was to divorce her quietly so that he would avoid humiliation and she would avoid being stoned to death. Thankfully, God in His ultimate wisdom had a better idea and Joseph being the righteous man that he was proved to be obedient. Joseph knew that there was a possibility that people could have talked badly about him for taking Mary as his wife but he chose to stand by her and do what God said was best. Also, not only did he do it, he did it immediately.

I feel that people don't always give Joseph the credit that he deserves because he was a really good man. My commentary points out four important things about his character that we see in this passage.

1. Joseph was righteous.
2. Joseph was sensitive to Mary's situation and planned to use discretion when making his decision.
3. Joseph quickly obeyed God.
4. Joseph used a lot of self-discipline in order to not have sex with Mary while she was pregnant.

We also know that Joseph served as a good earthly father to Jesus after he was born. I think this passage plays an important part in showing us that relationships are not perfect, therefore when the unexpected occurs we should make sure that we lean on the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God to help us make our decisions. When Joseph met Mary I'm sure he had no idea how God was going to use both of them in such special ways. Therefore, we should always seek God before making decisions, recognizing that it is a privilege and an honor for us to even be able to commune with Him. We should always be willing vessels like Mary and Joseph because we never know God is going to use us. God might use you and your partner to change the world! 

This story would have ended quite differently if God had not sent that angel to speak to Joseph in his dream. I think it's awesome how God uses different situations, opportunities, and people to speak to us. This story proves that God always has something to say, even when it comes to our "love lives." One of my most favorite songs will always and forever be, "Jesus is a Love Song," by Karen Clark Sheard and the Clark Sisters.  For me this song serves as a beautiful harmonic expression of just how wonderful it is to be close to Jesus and to have the opportunity to be able to hear from Him.

I just want to invite you to take the time to listen to the song and to appreciate just how wonderful He is. Let Him be a Love Song in your life. =) God bless.