Matthew 1:19–20 “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”
Jewish betrothal was nothing like our modern engagement. It was a legally binding marriage. Joseph and Mary were husband and wife in the eyes of the Law, but Scripture tells us he had not yet “known” her. So when Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he wasn’t thinking about returning a ring. He was staring down what looked like adultery within his covenant marriage.
Notice what Joseph did not do. He did not explode. He did not drag her before the community. Scripture says he “considered these things.” He pondered. Shame, betrayal, and confusion pressed in, and yet his character held the line.
Then the angel came. Not before Mary told Joseph. After. God let him sit in the tension.
Spurgeon wrote, “No faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity.” Joseph lived that.
Perhaps you have too. A heartbreaking dissolution. A betrayal of monumental proportions. Life has a way of ambushing us, and no one is exempt. The question is never whether the crisis will come. It always does.
When it does, what holds? Only the foundation you have already built. Joseph’s instincts were shaped by righteousness, not revenge, because his character was forged long before the crisis arrived.
Where is your foundation today?
And when the next storm hits without warning, will it be faith or fear that speaks first?
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