Hope and God's Plan

Read: Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Reflect:

Often we have our lives planned out, both for the short term and the long term. But life has a way of throwing “curveballs” at us (God’s way of interrupting our plans), and we are left with decisions on how to handle these changes. After all, we know the best way to fix things … or so we think. All too often we rely on our own reasoning, as Joseph did when he decided to handle his curveball by quietly divorcing Mary. By doing this, it would have save everyone from the disgrace of public ridicule. He applied human reasoning to a plan designed by God. During difficult times, we need to pray more and rely on God, not our own desires and wants. God’s ideas are always better than ours; we just have to trust in Him.

It wasn’t until Joseph was given a clear direction by an angel of the Lord that he realized what he should do and why. Unfortunately, we are usually not given such clear direction and purpose. We all experience life-changing events during the most unexpected times: God’s time. We have to realize that God’s timing is perfect. He uses life-altering events to conduct a reality check and look at where we are in our relationship with Him. We should use this time to rely more fully on God’s plan for us. Though we don’t know the outcome, we have to trust in His plans for us and all who will be affected by these events. One verse that coincides with trusting the plan God has for us is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future.” God’s plan may not be our plan or what we want, but it is always the right plan.

Act:

When the unexpected happens, put your trust in God and pray for wisdom and understanding. Even the most catastrophic events will have good come from that which works toward God’s will for us all. The hardest part for any of us is trying to see the good from such events as losing one’s job or losing a loved one, especially unexpectedly. During our time here on Earth, we may not understand God’s decisions. We may not understand why bad things happen to good people. During these times, we need to remember His way is better than ours. He knows a lot more than we do, and He has a much better plan for us.

Pray:

Lord, we thank You for the trials we encounter throughout our lives. Trials that help shape us and give us the opportunity to see your plan for each of us. Help us to remember that Your way is always better than ours. When life throws us a curveball and the unexpected happens, remind us that You are in complete control. Remind us that hope comes from our belief in You and the plan You have laid out for us. Though we may not understand Your plan, we know You see the whole picture.

Mark and Susan Pearson