When Life Is DisruptedНамуна

When Life Is Disrupted, Obey God

Even before Joseph and Mary came together, “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18). Let’s try and understand things from Joseph’s perspective. He was all excited to get married to Mary. He was engaged to her. In those days, an engagement was legally binding, and breaking the engagement required a divorce. That’s why Joseph is referred to as “her [Mary’s] husband” in Matthew 1:19. Infidelity during the engagement was considered adultery.

Now Joseph was a just man (v. 19). NIV says that Joseph was “faithful to the law.” He couldn’t go ahead and marry Mary since he assumed that she was unfaithful to him. So, he decided to divorce her. Yet, he didn’t want to expose her to public disgrace (v. 19). So, he chooses to divorce her quietly rather than disgracing her publicly. Joseph was a gracious person. But then, God intervenes by giving him a dream (v. 20-21). 

And listen to Joseph’s immediate response. Matthew writes that “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (v. 24). Joseph’s life was disrupted, but still, he obeyed God. Others might have ridiculed Joseph, but still, he was obedient. Joseph obeyed God rather than seeking the approval of people.

In Matthew 2:13-15, we see that the Magi visit Jesus at Bethlehem. After the Magi departed, Joseph sees another dream. The angel tells him, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him” (Mt. 2:13). Joseph could have thought, “Lord, I wanted to live a normal family life. I didn’t sign up for all these troubles.” Still, he immediately obeyed God by taking his wife and young child and went to Egypt. By obeying God’s word, Joseph was fulfilling an ancient biblical prophecy (v. 15). God used Joseph’s obedience to execute his plans and purposes.

In Matthew 2:19-23, Joseph sees another dream (third dream). After Herod the Great died, the angel tells Joseph to go back to the land of Israel. Joseph obeys the Lord’s word which came through the angel and goes back to his country. In the fourth dream, Joseph was warned not to go to Judea as Herod’s son, Archelaus was as cruel as his father. So, Joseph goes to Nazareth. They went to Nazareth because they previously lived there (Lk. 1:26). Again, Joseph fulfilled an ancient prophecy through his obedience (Mt. 2:23).

Our lives will be disrupted again and again. What do you do during those times? Let’s obey the Lord when our lives are disrupted. We must continue to maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord. We must continue to love God and people. We must continue to serve the Lord passionately. We must continue to obey the Lord’s commands found in his word. We must continue to live a life that pleases God.

Mary and Joseph were from a tiny village of Nazareth. Amazingly, we are talking about them even after 2000 years. We still remember them because they submitted to God, trusted him, and obeyed him. When life is disrupted, let’s submit to God, trust him, and obey him!