"But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."       {Matthew 1:20}

I don't know about you, but having an angel visit is not my idea of a relaxing time. Most heavenly visitations are not of little cherebs with cute chubby cheeks.  They do not look like babies in diapers, and are not a friendly sight! Usually an angel comes with a frightening size, and a deafening voice. This is why you hear each one say, "Do not be afraid."

I suppose having an angel speak to you in a dream may take some of the shock away. This angelic creature only tells Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Hopefully this dispels any sorrow that he may have had from thinking Mary was unfaithful. What a turn of events for our friend Joseph! 

In the beginning of the chapter he is planning on marrying Mary. He is told by her that she is expecting a child by the Holy Spirit, which he doesn't believe. Now, he is planning a divorce. The poor man must have been frazzled, but wait, we don't know that for sure. Maybe the voice of the angel was peaceful, and reassuring and he felt calm. We may never know because scripture doesn't tell us.We know that as a rule an angelic visitation is no laughing matter.

We can guess that Joseph went for an emotional roller coaster ride. I think he may have needed to stop and take a deep breathe before he found Mary to tell her about his dream. I would think she breathed a huge sigh of relief when told by Joseph that he believed her  initial report. 

God is good at turning around the worst circumstances and making them complete. Both of our precious friends are tried to the max with this situation. Mary and Joseph are amazing people, but were also human like you and I. God knew each would need to really lean on Him to get through the situations ahead. Can we lean on Jesus in our circumstances? We surely can, and God wants us to look to Him in every aspect of life. Thank God for His indescribable gift!