Unexpected Events
There are times in life that we all go through things, Unexpected Events. Things that come up that we are not expecting, at a time that we don't expect it. When those things happen, we have to learn, instead of falling away from God, to instead to dig into Him more. Luke 1:26-38 26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. This was definitely an unexpected event for Mary.
More than likely, this would have been an arranged marriage, however, even if it wasn’t an arranged marriage, marriage terms would have had to be negotiated. The payment negotiated would have been paid, from the groom or the groom’s family, to the father of Mary, as a payment for his daughter, being Mary.
After such time, a betrothal, or engagement ceremony would have been performed, the arrangement would have been considered a legally binding marriage, however, a wedding ceremony would still have to be performed at a later date before the marriage would be consummated… and until the wedding ceremony Mary remained living with her family.
Mary getting pregnant during this time would have been considered adultery, and thus punishable by death by stoning! Matthew 1:18-21 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Some people think Joseph didn’t play a huge part in Jesus’ life, but the fact is, what if God chose someone else. It says Joseph was a just man, meaning he was righteous and fair. God didn’t tell Joseph not to divorce her and have her stoned…. God simply told Joseph, do not be afraid and take her as your wife. - God doesn’t force us to make certain decisions… He gives us another option, and allow us to make the free will decision. 1 Corinthians 10:13 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able - I’m about to slaughter and sacrifice a sacred cow… in order to set straight on of the biggest Biblical misconceptions people have formed in their minds about God. Freedom is coming to your house today! James 1:12-14 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. That phrase drawn away, is a word that means to be lured out from it’s hiding place, as in fishing or hunting. The Bible says the Lord is our hiding place… but when our relationship with Him falters, our discipline begins to fail. We don’t communicate with Him as much, we don’t read His Word as much, and as a result, we don’t trust as much… and that becomes a vicious cycle, that will send you spiraling downward, missing church, isolating yourself, and ultimately even doubting your relationship with Christ, until you are so far away from Him, you just completely walk away. But it normally starts slowly in the beginning of that process, when you decide that you just spend too much time with the Lord… you need to concentrate more on yourself and your needs. You need more me time! Then during at a time when you would say you were having a bad day, the enemy will come and present you with an alternative to serving Christ, and following His ways. - Maybe you have an unexpected issue in your life - Maybe someone unexpectedly treats you horribly - Maybe you suffer an unexpected loss. Of a job, friend, or family member. - And the enemy says, you need a break… going to church every week is just too much. You have way to much to do to invest that much time in God and that church. And you invest way too much time in people that you don’t even know, or appreciate you. Even though the enemy is the one that is bringing those temptations, and they are temptations form the enemy… who is ultimately trying to pull you away from church first, church people second, and finally, which is His ultimate goal, to pull you away from God altogether. - God has given us the ability to resist those, and every other temptation, but sometimes the enemy paints such a beautiful picture of sin, like in the Garden of Eden, that the temptation to walk away from the Lord is greater than our desire to serve Him! 1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be sober (minded), be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It doesn’t say that the enemy is a roaring lion, or that the enemy can devour you, but he appears to be like a roaring lion that can devour you… You are the gatekeeper of your life… no one else! 9 Resist him, (and remain) steadfast in the faith 1 Corinthians 10:13-14 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it/ to endure it. - To not crumble under the pressure, but to instead to continue to stand on God’s Word and His Promises 13 …but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
What if Joseph wasn’t righteous and just, and instead of listening to God, he decided to turn Mary in for being pregnant, even though God told Him not to.
The truth is, Mary and Joseph went through a lot of unexpected temptations, before becoming the parents of
Jesus. No matter how many God spoke to them, you know that just like we do sometimes, they had doubts.
- Like when your kid has unexpected issues and makes poor decisions, no matter how hard you try to raise them in a Godly way.
- Like when you doubt the unexpected direction of your life, no matter how you try to walk on that straight and narrow path that God has for you.
- Or like when you still doubt the voice of God and what He tells you, no matter how you much you’ve heard His voice, or know what He is telling you lines up with scripture.
But look at what Mary and Joseph did when those unexpected events and issues came up.
They continued to do what they knew was right… no matter how much it cost them!
I’m sure rumors swirled for years around Nazareth about Mary’s pregnancy.
- And here I though Mary was a “good girl.”
- I heard Joseph wasn’t the father of here baby.
- Mary would have been an outcast.
And Joseph… would have received just as much ridicule as Mary did!
- Can you believe he isn’t the father of her baby?
- I wonder if she ever told him who the father really was?
Life doesn't always work out the way the want it to… actually it can be really rough sometimes. Unexpected things comes up, but just because the boat rocks, doesn’t mean it’s going to tip over!
Have A Blessed Day!
Pastor George Finney
New Life Church
NewLifeKenefick@yahoo.com