When A Dead-End Becomes A New Beginning...

Have you ever felt cornered by the circumstances of your life?

You had such great plans. You had it all worked out. Each detail. Each step. You knew where you were going and you were almost there. And then, something unexpected happens—something you didn’t anticipate, something you couldn’t foresee. All your plans take a major left turn and you find yourself seemingly heading straight into a dead-end.

There’s no time to wait. You’re going to crash into a wall. You’re convinced that your life is going to fall apart unless you run in the opposite direction out of harm’s way. The fear of the unknown convinces you to act now. There’s no time to wait.

Joseph, the young man betrothed to Mary, the would-be adopted father of her child, can relate. He never speaks a word in the entirety of the Gospel story but one can guess what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling. Where did it all go wrong? How did it come to this? His life and reputation are about to be ruined by the actions of the young maid to whom he bound himself in the covenant of marriage. Shame, dishonor and ridicule are about to come upon him.

Mary is obviously pregnant. The child she is carrying is obviously not his. To marry her would be to admit that he played a part or at the very least affirmed her adultery, her breaking of the Law of Moses. To divorce Mary is to sentence the girl that he loves, the person he has committed his life to, to alienation, to disgrace and ultimately, death. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Joseph looks to exit the scene quietly, to run away and not look back.

But then an angel comes to Joseph in a dream. God’s message is simple and direct: don’t be afraid, wait and believe. Don’t be afraid that you don’t understand what God is up to. Wait to see how God is fulfilling what he promised a long time ago. Believe that what seems like a dead end in your life is really God’s new beginning. In other words, God says, “Trust me.”

With Christmas less than a week away, is your life on or off schedule? Are you struggling to understand God’s will and purpose in the circumstances of your life? Are you being tempted to cut your losses and run even as God is calling you to stand fast and trust in what you cannot see?

The season of Advent dares us to wait and to believe with Joseph. In the time we are given let us face our fears and confront the perceived dead ends in our lives. Together may we find that Joseph’s dream of God’s promise is our dream too. Together may we learn as Joseph did that in Jesus Christ, the dream becomes a reality. 

Comments

[Brian Moss]

Thanks for the reminder that we are invited to faith, not fear. It seems that I have been a part of many conversations over this past year that have revolved around this idea of dead ends and new beginnings. Peace.