“Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly. But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’” (Matthew 1:19-20, BSB).

Consider, for a moment, what Joseph went through from the time he found out Mary was pregnant and the time he found out it was by the Holy Spirit. How much turmoil did he go through? What I noticed was that it said AFTER he had pondered these things, THEN the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The NASB says, “when he had thought this over.”

God had to send the angel to interrupt his plans because he had come up with his own plan. This was a big thing. Mary could be stoned. He was a righteous man. It had seemed to him that Mary had done an unrighteous act. That was tormenting enough. It meant losing his wife. That was tormenting. But the torment could have been avoided to some extent. He could have asked. He could have asked Mary and asked God.

The angel has to stop Joseph from carrying out his plans because he had made his own plans apart from God. He hadn’t gone to God and asked what he should do. Why? Because he thought he had understanding. He thought he knew the situation. He thought there was only one course of action that he was willing to do.

We could save ourselves, oh, so much trouble, if we just went to God first; if we let Him give us His understanding, if we let Him choose our course of action.

By the way, many translations use “think” or “consider.” The translation I quoted used the word ponder. It’s a completely different word than what is used when Mary is pondering over the things that happen surrounding Jesus’ birth. Joseph’s ponder means to discuss, confer, consider, meet with. I can picture him pacing back and forth, talking through what he should do, maybe with someone else, or even if he was talking to himself. Mary’s ponder means to meditate. She was thinking over the things the Lord had done. One is man’s thoughts. One is God’s thoughts.