What a Privilege

But 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. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 20-21 (NIV)

Can you imagine being told by an angel that your son will save His people from their sins, and that His kingdom will be established and will never have an end?

Joseph and Mary weren't at all naive about what this virgin pregnancy was going to mean for them. They were well aware of what this challenge was going to mean in terms of sacrifice.

We often focus on the obedience that was necessary, the tough nature of this divine assignment, the sacrifice that it required, the interruption of God's plans on Joseph's life, the threat to his personal reputation, and the chatter that would stir regarding his character and his honor.

However, a fresh reading of this text angled my lens on none of these considerations. Instead, I kept thinking to myself, when pondering Joseph's place and purpose in the birth of Jesus, “Joseph, I understand why you accepted the assignment. You never saw it as an interruption. You didn't see it as the unexpected. You didn't view it as the unwanted. You treated it like a privilege.”

What an honor, what a blessing, what a humbling thought that God purposed human redemption and included Joseph in its facilitation.

When I thought about Joseph's immediate response to take Mary home to be his wife, I saw it as quite an easy decision when viewed as his embrace of the privilege of being invited by God to partner with this teenage woman in His divine plan.

This pregnancy may have been an interruption. I concede that it was even so difficult to grasp that it necessitated an angelic visitation in order to be believed.

But the only way Joseph could have responded in obedience in the fashion that he did is to awaken from that angelic dream thinking, “What a privilege to be used by God like this. What a privilege to serve God like this. What a privilege to be in love with a woman like this. What a privilege to share life with her like this.”

This was a tough assignment for Joseph, no doubt. And we too are commissioned by God to steward tough assignments in life. They vary in their details. They sprout up in different ways. They pull on each one of us differently. But if you are called by God, you’ve got some tough assignments.

The question is, are you going to view them as an interruption or as a privilege?