The best supporting actor.

On a cosmic stage, with the spotlight shining most brightly in a different direction. Joseph.

But it’s Joseph who endures the crushing realization that the love of his life, his fiancé, his hometown girl is pregnant.

The Gospel of Matthew records it this way…

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

There is significant blank space around how, when and from whom Joseph found out that his beloved was “found to be with child”… pregnant, but suffice it to say, the Bible makes it clear that even with the weight of this crushing news, Joseph loved Mary enough that his posture was to guard and protect her.

“Found to be with child…”

Suffocating for Joseph. His precious Mary, pregnant. His dreams, dashed. His integrity, questioned. His morals, the topic of community gossip.

Joseph.

In most of the Biblical stories of unexpected pregnancy, the father is notified, or informed of God’s plan before the miracle occurs. In all of those examples, the father had a more active part to play. As unlikely as the pregnancy might be, there was a biological explanation that the husband/father understood… see Zachariah (the husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist). But not with Joseph.

Mary was pregnant, and he was not the father.

Crushed dreams often become the soil in which beautiful fruit flourishes. The storybook script of our lives, dashed on the rocks of reality, but redeemed with a transformational ending.

But why was Joseph not in the communication loop earlier? Had God overlooked the need to communicate with Joseph about His plan? Was God cruel in His timing?

No, as is always the case, even a subplot has a perfect design. Joseph’s plan for life with Mary… his dreams for his own life, his perfect design submitted to God’s supreme design.

Joseph bent the knee of his dream at the altar of God’s history shaping incarnation.

Best supporting actor. Joseph. And in the script of his life he shows us the way to live. Always, my plans submitting to HIS plans. My script, both planned and unplanned, as a part of the grand narrative.

Sometimes, the very thing that rocks our world is what will welcome a life-changing reality. A reality that draws us more closely to the God who loves, redeems and rescues us.

Just ask Joseph.