What Mary and Joseph Teach Us About Staying in Scandalous Stories

Let's be honest about something: if Mary and Joseph lived today, they'd be the subject of a lot of gossip.

An unwed pregnant teenager claiming her baby was from God? A fiancé who decided to stay anyway? In first-century Israel—and honestly, in many churches today—that's not a faith story. That's a scandal.

But that's exactly where God chose to work.

Mary: Carrying the Promise and the Whispers

I've thought a lot about what Mary's daily life must have been like during those nine months.

She knew the truth. The angel had come to her. She'd said yes. She was carrying the Messiah.

But Nazareth didn't know that. Nazareth saw an unwed pregnant girl. They saw scandal. They whispered behindher back and probably said things to her face too.

Mary carried the Savior of the world AND the judgment of her community at the same time.

God's calling didn't remove her from the hard story. It walked her through it.

I think about this when I meet women who are doing the right thing but getting the wrong response. Women in recovery who are fighting for their sobriety while their families still treat them like their past. Women rebuilding their lives after incarceration while doors keep closing in their faces. Women who've said yes to God but are still living in the fallout of decisions they made before.

Mary gets it.

Following God doesn't always mean the whispers stop. Sometimes it means you keep walking while they continue.

Joseph: The Man Who Stayed

Joseph might be the most underrated person in the Christmas story.

Put yourself in his position: The woman you're engaged to is pregnant. Not by you. She says it's from God—which, if you're being honest, sounds like the world's most creative cover story.

You have every right to walk away. The law allows it. Culture expects it. Your reputation demands it.

No one would blame you.

But Joseph was "a righteous man," Matthew tells us. And his righteousness didn't look like harsh judgment. It looked like grace.

He stayed.

He raised a child that wasn't biologically his. He protected a woman whose story didn't make sense to anyone watching. He gave up his right to a clean reputation because he trusted that God was doing something bigger than what he could see.

What This Means for Us

Here's what Mary and Joseph teach me:

Sometimes faithfulness looks like staying in a story that doesn't make sense yet.

Mary didn't get to skip ahead to the part where everyone worshiped her son. She had to walk through Nazarethfor months, feeling the stares, knowing what people thought.

Joseph didn't get to announce to everyone, "Actually, this is the Messiah, so your judgment is misplaced." Hejust had to keep showing up, keep protecting, keep trusting.

And both of them had to hold onto what they knew was true even when no one around them could see it.

That's faith.

When You're Living in the Middle

Maybe you're in a season right now where you know God is with you, but nothing external confirms it.

You're doing the work, but you haven't seen the results.You're making the right choices, but people still see your past.You're carrying something that's from God, but it looks like scandal to everyone else.

The Christmas story says: keep carrying it.

Not because it's easy. Not because it's fair. But because God has a track record of working through scandalous stories, misunderstood people, and situations that don't make sense.

Mary's baby was born in a barn, and He saved the world.

Grace for the Misunderstood

If you're feeling misunderstood this season—if your story doesn't fit neatly into anyone's expectations—I wantyou to know you're in good company.

The Holy Family wasn't holy because they had it all together. They were holy because they said yes to God in the middle of a mess.

And that yes changed everything.

Your yes matters too. Even when no one else can see what God is doing. Even when the whispers continue.Even when staying feels harder than leaving.

Sometimes grace looks like the person who didn't leave when they had every right to.

May you be that person—for yourself and for others.

And may you receive the grace to keep walking, even through Nazareth.

Have you ever been in a season where you knew God was with you, but nothing around you confirmed it? How did you keep going?