When Dreams Die: Trusting God Like Joseph

By John Martin

As we dig into the Christmas story this season, we often focus on Mary's "yes" to the angel or the shepherds' worship in the fields. But there's another figure whose story speaks directly to anyone who's ever had their carefully laid plans completely upended by God's calling, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.

Joseph's journey reminds us that following God's will doesn't always align with our dreams, and sometimes obedience requires us to absorb costs we never expected to pay. For those of us in ministry, whether we're worship leaders, pastors, or church volunteers, Joseph's example offers profound lessons about trusting God when our plans dissolve into uncertainty.

When Dreams Become Nightmares

Joseph had a dream. It was simple, honorable, and good. He was a righteous Jewish man, a carpenter, engaged to be married. His future seemed clear: a home, a wife, children, a respected place in his community. Like many dreams, it was built on faithfulness, hard work, and obedience to God.

Then the dream dissolved into a nightmare.

Matthew tells us that before Joseph and Mary came together, Mary was found to be pregnant. In that single moment, Joseph's dream became a nightmare. The woman he loved, the future he envisioned, the reputation he had spent years building, all seemed to unravel at once! Scripture is understated, but the emotional weight is immense. Confusion. Betrayal. Shame. Fear. What do you do when the life you planned suddenly no longer makes sense?

The Impossible Choice

Joseph faced a real dilemma and a choice to make. He could publicly expose Mary's perceived betrayal, divorce, have her and her family humiliated and Mary put to death. Or Joseph could choose to divorce her privately, have her family send Mary away and spare the family the embarrassment of Mary's humiliation.

As a righteous man, he wanted to obey the Law. As a compassionate man, he wanted to protect Mary. The law gave him the right to publicly expose her, to protect his own name and restore his honor. Quietly divorcing her would still cost him emotionally, but it would preserve his reputation.

After considering his options, Joseph showed compassion and decided to put Mary away privately. But God was about to ask Joseph to do something unthinkable.

God's Unthinkable Request

In a dream, an angel of the Lord tells him, "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." Those words are easy to read, but costly to obey. By marrying Mary, Joseph would assume the stigma that wasn't his. The whispers would follow him. People would question his morality, his integrity, his leadership. Business relationships would likely suffer. Religious leaders may have distanced themselves. In that culture, honor mattered deeply, and to proceed with the marriage Joseph willingly laid his honor down.

Why? Because obedience to God sometimes means absorbing following God's will for your life rather than your dreams.

The Cost of Obedience

Joseph's faith is remarkable not because he understood everything, but because he trusted the God who did. Verse 24 says simply, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him." No argument. No negotiation. No conditions. He chose obedience over explanation, faith over comfort, God's plan over his own.

This kind of costly obedience resonates deeply with those of us in ministry. How many worship leaders have felt called to serve in churches that couldn't offer the salary they needed? How many pastors have sensed God's direction toward a difficult conversation or an unpopular stand? At Next Level Worship, we've seen countless leaders wrestle with the tension between their personal dreams and God's calling on their lives.

Faith in the Unknown

And here's the hope for us: Joseph's nightmare was not the end of the story. It was the doorway to God's greater purpose. The child Joseph raised was the Savior of the world. The disgrace Joseph accepted became part of the redemption story God was writing for humanity.

Many of us know what it's like when our dreams change suddenly. A diagnosis. A betrayal. A job loss. A calling that costs more than we expected. We didn't choose the nightmare, but we're standing in it. Like Joseph, we may be tempted to protect ourselves, to preserve our image, our pride, to walk away quietly.

But if we look at the Christmas story from Joseph's perspective, Matthew 1 reminds us that God is faithful in the disruptions of life. God meets Joseph in his confusion. God gives him direction when the path is unclear. God provides what Joseph needs, not all the answers, but enough light for the next step.

Hope for Our Disrupted Dreams

If you find yourself in the middle of a nightmare today, take heart. God has not abandoned you. Your changed plans have not changed His faithfulness. When we trust Him, especially when obedience is costly, God provides purpose, strength, and a future we could not have imagined on our own.

Joseph's dream died, but God's plan was born. And the same God who was faithful to Joseph is faithful to you.

This truth transforms how we approach disrupted seasons in ministry. Whether you're a worship leader facing unexpected changes in your team, a pastor navigating church conflict, or a volunteer wondering if your service matters, Joseph's example shows us that our willingness to trust God in the disruption often becomes the very foundation for His greater work through us.

Living Like Joseph Today

What does it mean to trust God like Joseph in our current season? It means choosing obedience even when we don't understand the full picture. It means being willing to absorb costs, to our reputation, our comfort, our carefully laid plans, when God calls us to something greater than ourselves.

For worship teams and church leaders, this might mean saying yes to the difficult conversation, the sacrificial decision, or the calling that doesn't make sense on paper. It means trusting that God's faithfulness extends into our confusion and that His purposes are being worked out even when we can't see the end result.

The Christmas story reminds us that God often works through ordinary people who are willing to trust Him with their disrupted dreams. Joseph wasn't a prophet or a priest: he was a carpenter who chose faith over fear, obedience over explanation, and God's plan over his own comfort.

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As we celebrate this Christmas season, let Joseph's story encourage you in whatever disrupted dream you may be facing. God hasn't forgotten you. Your changed plans haven't changed His faithfulness. And when we trust Him through the disruption, we often discover that what felt like the death of our dreams was actually the birth of His greater purpose.

The same God who was faithful to Joseph: who met him in his confusion, guided him through his uncertainty, and used his obedience for the salvation of the world: is faithful to you today. Trust Him with your disrupted dreams. He's writing a story far greater than anything you could have planned for yourself.

John Martin is the associate pastor of Murphy Hill Baptist Church in Toney, Alabama. He's also a long-time ambassador for NLW International.