Trusting God When Life Turns Sideways
Submitted by Pastor Art Greenlee
Bible Baptist Church – West Point, MS
June 16, 2025
Mt 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Have you ever had a moment when life turned completely sideways? Maybe this week, plans crumbled after a phone call or diagnosis. That’s where we find Joseph in Matthew 1. He was righteous, diligent, and devoted—and still, confusion hit him like a storm. Mary, his espoused wife, was pregnant, and he knew the child was not his.
Joseph’s world unraveled. But in his darkest, most confusing moment, God stepped in. He learned that God’s plan can be disruptive. It interrupted his dreams, his expectations, and his understanding.
But God’s disruption was divine. Joseph would become the earthly “father” to Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Missions begins here—with a disruption, a detour, and a divine appointment.
We often view interruptions as inconveniences, but what if they are actually invitations? What if God is disrupting our comfort to call us to a greater mission?
Joseph didn’t remain in confusion. God’s Word brought clarity. Through a dream, the angel declared that Mary’s child was conceived by the Holy Ghost. “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
That’s the mission—salvation for the nations. Joseph’s obedience would become part of God's global redemptive story.
The key that unlocked Joseph’s understanding was not just a message—it was the reality of the Trinity. God the Father sent, God the Son came, and God the Spirit conceived. Like a master key that fits every lock, the triune God meets us in every need—authority from the Father, salvation through the Son, and power by the Spirit.
God’s presence and purposes can be trusted, even when the path doesn’t make sense. Joseph woke up and obeyed—quietly, faithfully. He took Mary as his wife. He named the child Jesus. And through that faithful obedience, the world would be forever changed.
What about us? When life turns sideways, will we trust God’s bigger plan? Will we listen when His Word brings clarity? And will we obey, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the nations?
Let this be your prayer today: “Lord, disrupt my comfort if it means advancing Your mission. Let me see the Trinity not as a mystery to fear, but as the foundation of my hope and the fuel for my obedience. Use my life—even in confusion—for the glory of Christ among the nations.”
Go. Trust. Obey. For the sake of His Name.
Consider – To conform us is to change us.
