from Comfort & Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent (Herald Press, 2025)
In Matthew 1, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. Most likely Joseph did not have access to written scriptures. He wasn’t part of a culture where the wonders of dreaming were explained through psychology. God used an avenue to communicate that Joseph left open, a dream, to send him a message. This is amazing, since on his own Joseph would have done the kind and culturally appropriate thing of “dismissing Mary quietly” (Matthew 1:19). Instead, God pursued Joseph through a dream to bring about God’s loving plan to save God’s people. By God’s loving grace, Joseph was not left alone to discern the correct path before him.
God still pursues us today. Maybe not with dreams . . . or maybe so. But God’s love does search for us and find us, inviting us to participate in bringing God’s plan into the world. Our job is to listen with the door of our heart open, be willing to wait, and trust that God will come with grace and be with us. Knowing that God—in an effort to share love with us—seeks us has brought a sense of peace to my spiritual journey. We, like Joseph, are invited to accept God’s gracious gift of love and the peace it can bring this Advent season.
God, thank you for seeking and pursuing us with your love. May we accept the grace and peace you extend to each of us. Amen.
We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others.
Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.
some comfort and joy 