Thank You, God, for Joseph

In anticipation of Christmas, I'm revisiting a series of guest posts that I wrote last year for Tommy Nelson. Our family wishes yours a very blessed Christmas season . . .

Thank You, God, for Joseph,

Who trusted Your good plan.

He took Mary to be his wife.

He was a faithful man.

Thank You, God, for Joseph,

Your precious Christmas gift.

—A Christmas Prayer

“He was a faithful man.” That’s quite the understatement, isn’t it? 


We know that Joseph is a good guy even before Gabriel visits him. Mary, the woman Joseph is engaged to is [My six-year-old is reading over my shoulder. How do I explain?] going to have a baby, but they’re not even married yet. Of course, we know Mary didn't do anything wrong. She did everything right. It’s God’s baby. [Six-year-old interjection: “Mo-om, all of us are God’s babies!”] But Joseph, not yet privy to this information, decides to divorce Mary quietly.

Matthew even hints that Joseph is only divorcing her in order to follow the law. Still, he must have been hurt, must have felt betrayed, must have thought all of his life’s plans were ruined. Yet he doesn't want to embarrass Mary with a public divorce. He still chooses to put Mary’s feelings first.

Sounds like the perfect man for the job.

God has known the quality of Joseph’s character all along. In fact, God has been planning this whole thing for a long, long time. The prophet Isaiah foretold hundreds of years earlier that Jesus would come from David’s line, and guess what? Yup, Matthew 1 tells us that Joseph is twenty-eight generations after King David, who is fourteen generations after Abraham.

So it’s no huge surprise, when an angel speaks to Joseph in a dream and tells him to take Mary to be his wife, that Joseph obeys. God had planned it all along.

He knew that Joseph, like Mary, would sacrifice his own personal plans for God’s omnipotent, perfect plan.

Would God know the same about you? What plans are you holding onto, despite God’s calling in another direction? Be a “faithful man” today.