Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.   And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS. (Mat: 1:18-25-ASV)

 

As I read this parable, I thought about today’s society, I even thought back to the days of Mary and Joseph, how it might have been even then.  They lived in a small town and everyone knew everybody else, she was engaged to Joseph.  It had been decided either by their own wishes or the wishes of their families that the two of them were to be married.  Then, suddenly from out of nowhere she was told by an angel that she was going to be pregnant, Mary probably didn’t even have a clue about how to become pregnant, and the possibility of being pregnant without ever having a man touch her was more than likely beyond anyone’s imagination.  However, she humbly accepted her assignment without hesitation or reservation. 

 

I cannot begin to imagine how Mary must have felt in those days when you where already promised to someone for marriage only to find out that you are pregnant with someone else’s baby and you cannot even explain how it happened.  Let’s just think about this for a moment, do you think that one of us could be engaged to someone this day and time, get pregnant and tell them no man touched us  and the Holy Spirit was the father and they would believe what we said?  I don’t think so.   An angel visited Joseph as it stated in the above scripture  and told him that he was to accept Mary as his wife.  Now let’s think about that for a moment.  Joseph must have been a very anointed and holy ghost filled young man, otherwise, I don’t believe he would have accepted the idea that Mary ‘s pregnancy was of a divine intervention.   I can just imagine the shock when he realized the woman that he loved was going to have a baby that was not his. 

 

Mary and Joseph had to face all their family and friends throughout this engagement and marriage, and Mary had to face her perspective In-laws during her pregnancy. Sometimes, when we face circumstances that are extremely difficult, we say to ourselves that God cannot possibly be in the midst of this and allowing all of this to happen to us.  But He is, He knows the outcome and exactly how much we can bear, His word is truth,” all things work together for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose”.  There may be times in our lives when our circumstances make us look ashamed, a liar, a cheat, not to be trusted, undisciplined, tainted, completely out of control, unfaithful, rebellious, and all other kinds of things.

 

We often look at people as they go through different circumstances in a judgmental way and say all manner of evil things about them; not knowing that God has ordained their circumstances, just as Joseph and Mary’s were.  Now I am sure the Bible did not expound on the depth of what Joseph and Mary went through during this time, because we would probably not have enough books to retain it.  However, I can just imagine that their lives together were not peachy cream, loving and soothing.  People are people and we were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity and we all want to think the worst of people and their situations instead of praying for them and offering them our support, prayers, and assistance. 

 

 I would love to know what Mary’s in-laws really thought about her becoming pregnant before she married their son.  Did they accept this as a divine intervention from God? and considered it an honor that God would choose their daughter –in-law?  Or did they scorn her as well and asked their son not to have anything to do with her? Were they suspicious of her actions or did they believe that she was telling the truth?  We will never know the answers to those questions until we reach Heaven, however, we can’t afford the wrong kind of thinking and talking ourselves when circumstances happen to others that might seem a little suspicious to us.   

If God can trust us and only, He knows our heart, He will allow the strangest circumstances to come into our lives because He knows that He has already ordained us for that circumstance. Some people could not go through what you or I might be able to withstand, that is why God chooses the plans He has for us.   The enemy might try to convince them to do something that our Savior does not desire for them. We will never fully understand while we are in these carnal bodies why God allows what He does, to whom He does, for what purpose He has, however, we will learn to trust and depend on Him totally as we go through circumstances that have been ordained especially for us that may cause us to look like the bad person.

 

Mary and Joseph did not care how they were made to look or what people had to say about them, they simply wanted to obey the Lord with all their hearts; so, they accepted the assignment that was ordained for them and passed the test with excellence as we read in the final verses they were blessed beyond measure.  Let us accept your ordained circumstances as a blessing rather than a curse from God and complete your assignments. We will not regret our decisions simply because, there is no failure in Christ our savior. I choose to accept, and I will believe that you are accepting also.

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