Waiting: Day 23

Monday December 22, 2025

But as he (Joseph) considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20,21, English Standard Version

Faced with a monumental decision, Joseph opts to . . . sleep on it. Yep. He plops in his recliner, perhaps, or he snuggles into his covers for a night’s rest. Maybe he stretches out on his carpenter’s bench. I don’t know the particulars, but Matthew is very clear that the angel “appeared to him in a dream.”

That may be the smartest thing Joseph could do, given that he’s probably inundated with advice from friends and family and he’s obsessing all day over what to do. He is a cauldron of conflicting desires-he cares for Mary, and I’m sure he has a picture of their life together in his mind, but how does he go forward with her so obviously pregnant and he’s not the father?

So, he steps away from it. He rests both his mind and his body. This quietens his thoughts, and it stills the wrenching anxiety that had surely enveloped him. He goes to sleep.

Matthew doesn’t tell us if sleep came easy to Joseph. Probably it didn’t. My hunch is he tossed and turned, wrestled with his covers, maybe even got up and poured himself a glass of milk and sat brooding before he finally got so tuckered out that sleep snuck up on him.

And then God visited him. Let’s be clear-every dream is not a visit from the Almighty. In fact, most dreams are not of a divine nature. Some of mine, to be frank, are downright crazy. Psychologists would tell us that our dreams-convoluted as they may be-are still important as they are our subconscious minds sifting through our experiences and memories and making some degree of “sense” of them. Fine, our dreams are important and powerful and helpful to our mental and emotional health. But they are not all instructions from Headquarters, from the Creator of the Universe.

This dream of Joseph’s is a clear message from God. “Remember that you’re a Jew, a believer in the Lord, a descendent of the great King David,” the angel says. “And recognize that God’s in the middle of all this, so don’t be afraid. Just follow our instructions-marry young Mary and name the child Jesus. Then, watch out, because your Son is going to be a Savior!”