“Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 NET
One of my favorite Christmas memories is when my daughter was about seven years old and opening her gifts Christmas morning. She was so excited and things were going along well because, “this is just what I asked for!” But then there was a reality check, she opened a gift, looked at it and said, “I didn’t ask for this.” Then quickly tossed it over her shoulder! Unfortunately for her, that moment will live on because we have it on video. I look back on that morning and smile, because she was so honest. How many of us have gotten gifts that “we didn’t ask for”, but we smile and say a polite thank you only to either put the gift away never to be used, or more often we re-gift it.
Whenever I read Mary’s answer to the angel upon the news of her becoming an unwed mother to be in a world that was very hostile to that state of being, it makes me think of all the times I responded more like my daughter instead of Mary. There are many things that come into our lives that we didn’t ask for. We respond with an indignant and arrogant attitude of how dare this come into my life, it’s not what I wanted, it’s not fitting into my plans, and I don’t deserve this.
Upon accepting what the angel told her Mary knew her life would be changed and it wasn’t going to be easy, but if God was letting this be brought into her life, then He also would see her through the bumpy road that lied ahead. She had to tell her fiancé she was pregnant and he would know it wasn’t his. She would hurt him with the news, but God would take care of that, and He did. She had to tell her parents, who would be judged by the community because they had raised a wayward daughter. But once again God would make a way. Her very life was at stake, for she was an adultress, which she would have been considered since she was engaged and was to be stoned to death! But she knew in her heart if God was using her to bring the Messiah into the world, He would take care of that too.
Could it be that we fight so hard against the unwanted things that come into our lives because we don’t allow ourselves to see God in them. Perhaps if we would begin seeing things from God’s perspective we would see how He is going to use it no matter how odd, hurtful or destructive it seems. We would be able to answer with an honest, “let this happen just as You said.” After all, He gave His Son as a baby to save the world. And as the angel reminded Mary, That which is impossible with man is possible with God. (Luke 1:37).
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