It’s amazing how sometimes things can appear as if they’re going haywire in our lives. We look at the things going on around us and think, “This can’t be God. It looks like a chaotic mess!” Or, we encounter times in our lives when the Lord requires us to do something that is not widely accepted in our culture, and what is required of us is hard for even our closest family members to understand.

As I was reading through Matthew 1:18-23 this morning, I began to contemplate what Joseph may have been going through when he found Mary pregnant with a child who wasn’t his. Most of us know the story, but let’s take a quick look at the Scripture –

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” Matthew 1:18-19.

I’m sure the first thought that went through Joseph’s mind was not that the baby came from God. Most any man would have questioned their fiancé’s faithfulness; “Was it my best friend? Where did she meet this guy? I wonder how long this has been going on?” However, despite whatever Joseph may have been thinking, or feeling, he was a just man – he wanted to do what was right, and not put Mary to shame, so instead of an instant reaction to the news, verse 20 says, “he considered these things.”

When our lives look to be a mess, and things don’t seem to be lining up, we can do what Joseph did; we can consider what is going on. We can pray and ask the Lord to reveal to us why we are in the situation we are in, and what He is wanting to show us, or do in our lives. It may just be that it’s not the devil at work, but it’s God working through us to accomplish His plan, not only for us, but for future generations that we have not yet seen. On the other side of what appears to be a stressful disaster, could be a blessing so big, and so far-reaching, that it’s incomprehensible to a finite mind. Joseph considered what was happening, and what he should do, and it saved him from making a rash decision and a huge mistake.

Mary is the only one who carried the physical Jesus within her womb, but as Christ followers, we carry the Holy Spirit within us. Just as the Holy Spirit deposited a seed within Mary that caused Jesus to come forth, the Holy Spirit has placed seeds inside each and every one of us. You know that thought you may have had about learning to play the piano? That’s a seed. If nurtured, and not aborted, you could give birth to a great ministry that reaches hundreds of thousands of people for Christ, through your piano playing. That desire in you to write a book – it’s a seed that when you give birth to it, can change the world! We all have seeds within us that are just waiting for us to come into agreement with, that are waiting for us to nurture them, and bring them into existence. There are generations of people waiting for us to bring them into existence as well – people need what we carry. We need the One Mary carried.

So, Joseph was contemplating what to do, perhaps if his situation was of God or not, and while he was contemplating, he received his answer through an angel of the Lord, in a dream. It was said to Joseph,

“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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,” Matthew 1:20-21.

Joseph was afraid. He didn’t know what to do, so God gave him a dream.

There are many things that can come through a dream.

Confirmation can come through a dream. God confirmed to Joseph that it was ok to still take Mary as his wife – in fact, it was the will of God!

Direction can come through a dream. The Lord had directed Joseph as to what to name the baby, and later on in Genesis, we see Joseph receiving another set of instructions in a dream –

“Now when they had departed, behold, and angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘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.’” (Matthew 2:13)

Comfort can come through a dream. It’s comforting when we understand that what we are going through is actually God working in our lives, and it’s not that we’re in sin, or that God has turned His back on us. It’s a comfort to us when we hear from the Holy Spirit what is going on, and it gives us the strength and courage to continue on, to endure.

Understanding can come through a dream. Joseph gained an understanding that what was happening to Mary and himself had been planned by the Lord long ago, and would have a great impact on future generations. Joseph began to understand the importance of his role in this situation, and was able to  press past the fear he had been facing, took Mary as his wife, and helped to raise Jesus.

Our willingness to carry and give birth to what the Lord has placed in us will ultimately bring salvation to a dead and dying world. Through our obedience, we deliver and make manifest Jesus to the world. By giving birth to what God has place inside of us, people become aware that the Lord is with us; they begin to realize He’s not a far-away, distant Father. Others can experience the love of Christ through our obedience, just as we are experiencing the love of Christ because of Mary’s obedience. One act of obedience can change the world.