Thank goodness! Plans and Timing=we see Perfect God!

Since Joseph is such a major character in the story of the birth of Jesus, I wanted to spend another day pondering the scripture in Matthew 1:18-25, , today I used the New Living Translation.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

²⁰As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Looking again at our scripture, I was struck by Joseph’s compassion and consideration of Mary. He knew that divorcing her was what was expected of him, but he wanted to do it quietly so as not to cause Mary further embarrassment. He also thought about what to do and did not jump into action. God knew Joseph was struggling with his decision, so an angel appeared to him in a dream giving him direction on how to move forward. The principle here is that God knows the society in which we live and realizes we need His encouragement and reassurance to do His will when in opposition to worldly standards. Joseph’s encouragement came in an angel dream but we have the Bible today which we can reference, search and rely upon as well as the indwelling Holy Spirit of God for direction and guidance. Joseph did not have either of these so God took care of his needs in a different way which gave him exactly what he needed.

How do we see God in this appearance? We see God’s omniscient knowledge of all that was happening, His realization of Joseph’s fear and need for encouragement and reassurance, God’s plan and forethought to bring Messiah into the world at exactly this time in history. God is perfect. Everything in this event is perfect. What God says, does and plans is without fault. Because God is unchanging and faithful, the measure of what perfection is begins with God. What God wills is good and perfect. His ways are flawless and righteous. All scripture is included in God’s perfection. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ” All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

As you consider God’s perfection, think about His creation, His plans for our redemption, and the plans He has for your life. All good things reflect His perfection. Remember the promise of 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 hope and a future.”