Already at Work

The heavenly messenger told him:
Do not fear. Take Mary as your wife.

Joseph had looked at the circumstances and made the best decision he could with the information he had. His decision was not cruel. He was trying to do what was right while also showing Mary mercy.

Then came the explanation Joseph needed:
“…for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

He was asked to accept Mary. Accept the child. Step into a story he did not plan.

Then God gave Joseph something even bigger than an explanation:
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

When he was considering divorcing Mary, Joseph did not have all the information.
God did.

Even after the dream, Joseph couldn’t see the whole picture. He couldn’t see the details of Bethlehem. He could not see shepherds hurrying toward a manger. He could not see the kind of life this child would live or the salvation He would bring.

Joseph knew only what God had revealed to him.
And it was enough.

When Joseph woke, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him.
He took Mary as his wife.
He stepped forward into the story God was already writing.

Before Joseph understood Mary’s pregnancy, God was already preparing the way. Before Joseph took Mary home, God was already carrying out His plan of salvation.

I know what it’s like to be asked to obey God when I cannot yet make sense of the whole situation. I may not understand everything that comes next, but I can obey what God has already made clear.

FEAR NOT when you don’t understand the situation.
BECAUSE GOD IS already at work.