Sabbath 12/24/16 Seventh Day Baptist Daytona Pastor Wray sermon “When God Messes with Your Plans” Matthew 1:18-25
This passage is intriguing because it is about Joseph’s engagement to Mary. In our times, engagement is when a young man has fallen in love with a woman, has asked her to marry him and she will have agreed. But in Joseph’s and Mary’s time period, engagements were pre-arranged by parents when they were still children. When the couple is old enough and aware of the arrangement, they begin to make their plans. Joseph made plans and Mary made plans. They were both excited about their lives together and had dreams of sharing them together. Then God messes with their plans and gets Mary pregnant by the Holy Ghost before she is married. Mary asked the angel of God how could this be, since she was a virgin. Joseph then had to decide to either believe that God got Mary pregnant by the Holy Ghost or that He should just quietly divorce her.
This passage is intriguing because it is about Joseph’s engagement to Mary. In our times, engagement is when a young man has fallen in love with a woman, has asked her to marry him and she will have agreed. But in Joseph’s and Mary’s time period, engagements were pre-arranged by parents when they were still children. When the couple is old enough and aware of the arrangement, they begin to make their plans. Joseph made plans and Mary made plans. They were both excited about their lives together and had dreams of sharing them together. Then God messes with their plans and gets Mary pregnant by the Holy Ghost before she is married. Mary asked the angel of God how could this be, since she was a virgin. Joseph then had to decide to either believe that God got Mary pregnant by the Holy Ghost or that He should just quietly divorce her.
- God didn’t ask Joseph or Mary, He told them:
God didn’t ask them if it was acceptable to them. He just told them what was going to happen in their lives. The majority of the plans we all had in our youth, are much different than what has really come to pass. Some of our plans changed because our desires changed. Some plans changed because of the circumstances in our lives. Either way, God has a plan for our lives. God has NO intention of asking us if we like His plans.
- God’s plan for Joseph and Mary was not an easy one:
The plan for them was not easy. Why couldn’t the taxes be collected before Mary got pregnant or afterwards? No…the taxes need to be collected while Mary was pregnant and this was not easy. She had to travel on a donkey while being very pregnant. Then the baby was born in a manger because there was no room in the inn. Mary was exhausted and ready to deliver her baby and they couldn’t find a hotel room! This was not easy for them.
Later, they were forced to flee Bethlehem and go to Egypt because King Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus. God could have softened the king’s heart but He didn’t. Joseph and Mary had to make the long trip to Egypt with a 2yr old child. Between the time that they came back to Israel after Herod died until the time that Jesus turned 30yr old, Joseph died. Jesus then had to help his family by becoming head of the house.
God’s will for us is not always easy. Sometimes it is not the easy way that is the plan that God has for us. Jesus, Paul and other apostles did it God’s way and followed God’ plan even when it wasn’t easy. They were eventually killed for their faith and their spreading of the gospel.
- During difficult times, God does bless us anyway:
Ultimately Jesus grew up to be a blessing to the whole world. Mary was blessed when she saw her son resurrected from the dead. Blessed when she saw Him ascend up to Heaven. Mary saw Jesus’s death open the door of salvation to everybody in the world.
AMEN