Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. — Matthew 1:19;24

Anytime we approach Christmas, I spend a lot of time reflecting on the Christmas story. We often spend a lot of time focused on Luke 2, but I am thankful for the different aspects recorded elsewhere. One of those is here in Matthew. While the center of the story all focuses on Jesus, we learn a lot in this passage about Joseph.

We could obviously spend a lot of time discussing Joseph. He was said to be a just man, a simple carpenter, who was engaged to be married to Mary. Instead of seeing who Joseph was, I am more interested in what Joseph did. We read here in Matthew that he considered hiding Mary due to her being with a child.

Instead, God sent an angel to Joseph and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and that there was no need to hide her as he had planned. Joseph faced a dilemma in his life, a situation where he felt he needed to act. Instead of his plan, we see that Joseph went with God’s plan.

In life, we will face situations and circumstances that will require us to act. We often come up with our own plan of action, when we should really seek God’s plan of action. Because with God’s plan, there’s something amazing in store.

In Joseph’s obedience, he witnessed one of the greatest events to ever take place in this world. All it took was following God’s plan. Maybe you are considering your action plan. Perhaps you have laid out what you feel is perfect. Have you talked to God about it? Are you following His plan?

Jared Dyson