more on Joseph

I mentioned yesterday that Joseph was a man of integrity as well as a man who was open and responsive to God. Those two traits together led him to be able to raise God's Son. I can honestly say that there are a lot of pressures associated with raising a child. From the moment you find out your wife is pregnant you are faced with all kinds of pressures and all sorts of changes in your life. I can remember immediately thinking of the things Tara and I would need to cut out of our lives, not because they were bad but because they weren't necessities and we were about to have an expensive addition to the family.
THose pressures carry you right on through teenage years as I have seen being in youth ministry well over a decade now. The pressures to make sure you raise your kid in the way that God would have you raise them is enough to make you crack, I wouldn't want to think about raising Jesus. Just think about how you act and talk and react differently when you think your pastor is watching or around. Or even at church, people dress different, and talk differently at church because they are in a Holy place well Joseph had a holy place right there in his own house, too much to even attempt to comprehend.
Well, we left off yesterday looking at how Joseph innitially handled the news that Mary was pregnant. He had planned to quietly divorce her and move on with his life. THen, an angel of the Lord appeared and now he has to make a decision. He decided correctly to follow God's lead and marry, Mary and raise GOd's Son. Think about these pressures, you are known as a man of integrity and high morals and now your fiancee is pregnant. Now, you are expected to tell people that it isn't your child. Ofcourse people expect you to say that, your morals are on the line. So Joseph took a shot to the gut with this news and this pregnancy as well. I don't think we can ever comprehend the emotions he must have gone through. From anger that his bride to be was pregnant and it wasn't his. Anger that he had saved himself for marriage and seemingly she had not. Sadness as he made his plans to divorce her quietly and slip out of the picture. Overwhelm from the idea that he is now raising a child that was unplanned for, and now it hits that he is raising God's child. Fear for how people would react and look at them during this time, and becausee most would not believe how the conception took place.
Don't ever tell me you have been under pressure, enough to cook you. Joseph faced so much pressure and so much ridicule and took it like a man, like the very man God chose to raise his Son here on earth.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.