Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Until I read Debbie Wilson’s, Little Women, Big God, I had never considered that Joseph probably felt betrayed by Mary.

But think about it:

Pregnant by the Holy Spirit?  Seriously?  That just doesn’t happen.

Who would blame Joseph for doubting Mary’s story?  After all, she had abruptly disappeared to visit her cousin.  Three months later she returns with the news that she’s pregnant.

Joseph must have been devastated.  Yet instead of choosing to retaliate, Joseph chose to graciously handle the issue privately by quietly divorcing her.

Talk about a beautiful picture of grace.  And kindness…

When someone hurts or wounds your heart, what is your response?  

Grace and kindness is certainly not my go-to emotion.  Most of the time, it’s not anything I even want to consider. 

But as I’ve been challenged, I challenge you too:  choose kindness and grace.  I can assure you,  it’s not something that comes naturally.  But when we choose to handle difficult circumstances God’s way – God shows up.

So instead of the silent treatment, harsh words or retaliation, surrender that person and relationship to the Lord.  Pray for them daily.  Ask God to help you see them through His eyes of love; ask for wisdom to know how to respond. 

And watch God intervene in a way that only He can.

God intervened in Joseph’s difficult circumstances by sending an angel.  The angel convinced Joseph of Mary’s innocence and gave Him direction of what to do next.

He’ll do the same with us.  When we choose to handle difficult circumstances God’s way, the same God, Who is the same today as He was yesterday, will show up in our circumstances as well.

And when God shows up, everything changes.  Sometimes our attitude and emotions change.  At other times, He’ll change the circumstance.  Sometimes He’ll open our minds to consider what we would have never considered in our own wisdom – just as He did for Joseph.

And this out of the box wisdom was certain to cause quite a stir in little Nazareth…