We've given thanks and celebrated the Giver of all good things and the One who makes all things good. Now, our sights are set to His birth... and I think of Mary. I think of how we have this great anticipation for the big day, but, WOW, what anticipation she might have had! I cannot fathom it. The wonder of being with child and the questions that arise within a woman concerning the pains of labor and the demands of motherhood are plenty on their own without adding to the equation...Son of the Most High. There had to be so many cloudy areas that she couldn't even begin to comprehend.
In Luke 1:30, "But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." With the announcement of her son falling from the angel's lips and grasping her heart with aches of the unknown, of course, her response is, "How will this be?"
There were so many things that just could not have added up for her. Me? Favored? Virgin. Pregnant? Son of the Most High? Son of God? Never ending Kingdom? Jesus...the one who saves? None of it should have made sense to her with what her eyes could see, with what her body had yet to experience, and with the reality she was walking through in the physical. In addition, the potential consequences of this new Truth about her certainly could have become paralyzing. She totally could have freaked, ran, screamed, and lost it about how much she could not do this. Instead, Mary answers the angel with such a graceful submission to the Father, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." What? No arguing. No offering other options. No pity party bathed in fear. Nope. She knew fully well her position and she knew fully well His character. Simply found is admirable trust. She goes to visit Elizabeth, and from that place of trust freely flows praises and remembrances of God's character and all that He had accomplished in the past - a rehearsal of her heritage.
Months pass and so does the arduous journey to Bethlehem. It certainly could not have been the kind of nesting most women would look forward to. There, she gives birth to this baby boy and is congratulated by strangers from near and far with words such as, "A Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord." Angels appear praising God for His birth. Every word since conception was unfolding before her eyes and would continue to for the next thirty plus years and Scripture says that she "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." What a beautiful response to the promises offered from Heaven!
So...I am reminded as the Father whispers promises in our ears that seem to not fit with what we see that we are to lean in, to rehearse our heritage, to praise His holy name, and to trust Him. To ponder His promises to us in our hearts and to wait on Him to bring them about is not a lack of faith, but evidence of it. Oh, that our submission to the one true God never waiver, but may we always remember who He is and that He is able when we are not. If he can bring forth a child to the womb of a favored virgin, he can move the mountains that seem to stand between you and His promises. What is He saying to you? Will you join me in such faith? All it takes is a response similar to Mary's, "Here I am Lord, do as you see fit."
"God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him."
~ Andrew Murray
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