{"id":2321,"date":"2025-12-03T10:39:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T10:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/?p=2321"},"modified":"2025-12-03T10:44:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T10:44:40","slug":"unexpected-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/unexpected-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2321\" class=\"elementor elementor-2321\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-059d16e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"059d16e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ed925d1\" data-id=\"ed925d1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a1994bc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a1994bc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Unexpected News<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b3a2c16 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b3a2c16\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"48\" data-end=\"430\"><em>Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, \u201cJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/em><br data-start=\"410\" data-end=\"413\" \/><strong><em>Matthew 1:19\u201320<\/em><\/strong><\/p><p data-start=\"432\" data-end=\"1125\">As I was reading through the story of the birth of our Lord this past week, I was struck by the story of Joseph. We are not told how old Joseph was at the time the Lord Jesus was born. But we are told that Mary was betrothed to him and that they had never been together as husband and wife. As I read Matthew 1:18\u201325, I tried to put myself in Joseph\u2019s place: What was he feeling when he learned that the woman he was betrothed to was expecting a child? We are not explicitly told how he felt, but there may be a hint in the words, he \u201cwas minded to put her away secretly.\u201d Was he embarrassed by the news? Was he hurt\u2014perhaps broken, even devastated? You and I might have felt all of the above!<\/p><p data-start=\"1127\" data-end=\"1601\">But Joseph received a word from the Lord not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, \u201cfor that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.\u201d I\u2019m sure Joseph did not understand how this could have happened, but he accepted it and took the Lord at His word. We read, \u201cThen Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.\u201d<\/p><p data-start=\"1603\" data-end=\"1845\">We may not understand what the Lord is doing in our lives, but like Joseph we can \u201cTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths\u201d (Prov. 3:5\u20136).<\/p><p data-start=\"1847\" data-end=\"2488\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">This time of year can be very difficult for some, even when most around us are happy and celebrating the season. Perhaps you are hurting, broken, even devastated\u2014much like Joseph could have been. There is hope for the hurting. Psalm 34:18 reminds us that \u201cThe Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.\u201d Psalm 147:3 adds, \u201cHe heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.\u201d<\/p><p data-start=\"1847\" data-end=\"2488\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><strong>Anchor For Today:<\/strong><br \/>Joseph\u2019s circumstance did not change\u2014he was still engaged to a woman expecting a child\u2014but he was willing to trust and depend on the word of the Lord for all that was ahead of him. May the Lord help us to do the same!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unexpected News Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, \u201cJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unexpected News | Anchors For Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/unexpected-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unexpected News | Anchors For Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unexpected News Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, \u201cJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/unexpected-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anchors For Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/anchorsforlife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anchorsforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Youtube-End-Slide-e1769744409320.png?fit=1154%2C597&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1154\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"597\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anchors For Life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anchors For Life\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"dakika 2\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anchors For Life\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0683e316720176621d45839989b97fe2\"},\"headline\":\"Unexpected News\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":479,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Devotional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"sw\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Unexpected News | Anchors For Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"sw\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/unexpected-news\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unexpected News\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anchors For Life\",\"description\":\"Verse-by-verse Bible teaching, devotionals, and Christian living resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"sw\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Anchors For Life\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"sw\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/LOGO-png-3500.png?fit=2750%2C2750&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/LOGO-png-3500.png?fit=2750%2C2750&ssl=1\",\"width\":2750,\"height\":2750,\"caption\":\"Anchors For Life\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/anchorsforlife\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOS7aqmb67cD9TMNy187GRQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0683e316720176621d45839989b97fe2\",\"name\":\"Anchors For Life\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"sw\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anchors For Life\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anchorsforlife.org\\\/sw\\\/author\\\/philberthadley\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unexpected News | Anchors For Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/unexpected-news\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unexpected News | Anchors For Life","og_description":"Unexpected News Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, \u201cJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/unexpected-news\/","og_site_name":"Anchors For Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/anchorsforlife","article_published_time":"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1154,"height":597,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anchorsforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Youtube-End-Slide-e1769744409320.png?fit=1154%2C597&ssl=1","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Anchors For Life","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anchors For Life","Est. reading time":"dakika 2"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/"},"author":{"name":"Anchors For Life","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0683e316720176621d45839989b97fe2"},"headline":"Unexpected News","datePublished":"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/"},"wordCount":479,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Devotional"],"inLanguage":"sw","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/","url":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/","name":"Unexpected News | Anchors For Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-03T10:39:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-03T10:44:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"sw","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/unexpected-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unexpected News"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/","name":"Anchors For Life","description":"Verse-by-verse Bible teaching, devotionals, and Christian living resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"sw"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#organization","name":"Anchors For Life","url":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"sw","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anchorsforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/LOGO-png-3500.png?fit=2750%2C2750&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anchorsforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/LOGO-png-3500.png?fit=2750%2C2750&ssl=1","width":2750,"height":2750,"caption":"Anchors For Life"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/anchorsforlife","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOS7aqmb67cD9TMNy187GRQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0683e316720176621d45839989b97fe2","name":"Anchors For Life","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"sw","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c63e698e66d39fa8d618ff8729397a2a666717202b9452fa5d16254d6ed5e22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anchors For Life"},"url":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/author\/philberthadley\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2325,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions\/2325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anchorsforlife.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}