Christmas is here! I got to start my Advent devotional yesterday and I am so excited for the Christmas season. It’s easily my favorite time of the year. However, as I talked about in last week’s blog post, it can be hard during the Christmas season to slow down and actually remember why we’re celebrating. To help keep me on track, for the next four weeks, I’m going to be looking at the Christmas story in my blog posts.
Mary, an Unremarkable Girl
This week, I’ve been thinking about Luke 1:26-38. This is the passage where the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah. We don’t really know a whole lot about Mary. If Mary was like most girls in that particular time period who were not yet married, she was probably young. More than likely, she was between the ages of 12-16 when the angel appeared to her.
We don’t know if Mary was beautiful or if she was plain. We don’t know if she was smart or an air head. It doesn’t seem, from the story, that she was anyone the world would call remarkable. She was just a normal girl about to get married (and we don’t know if she was excited about that or not). She was just going about her very normal life.
Then all the sudden, an angel appeared and her life changed dramatically. The angel tells her that she has found favor with God. Why? How? We don’t know. The Scriptures don’t tell us why Mary was so favored. She just was because God said she was.
Mary, a Willing Girl
One thing we do know about Mary is that she was willing. When the angel told her what God had selected her for, she had one very practical question: how is this going to happen? The angel tells her (though perhaps not in as much detail as she or we would have liked). With that question answered, Mary agrees that God can do with her what he will.
From what we can tell, there is nothing spectacular about Mary. However, she trusts in God and willingly surrenders to Him. I’m sure she was scared. Wouldn’t you be if an angel showed up and told you that you were going to have a baby and you had never had sex before? I’m sure she was worried about what her family, friends, and especially her fiancé were going to think about this whole thing. That had to go through her mind. Despite all that, she says yes.
Mary’s Lesson for Us
Mary’s story teaches us that God uses those who willing, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Mary is just one of many examples of this in the Bible. God can use us to do great things, no matter how unqualified we may seem (or even be). We simply have to be willing to follow his plans and trust him. He’ll take care of the details. It might not be in the way or in the timing we would like, but he will work through us.
What is it that you think you’re too insignificant to do? What has God called you to that seems too big? No matter what that thing is, God simply wants you to trust him. He will enable you to do the thing he’s called you to. You don’t have to be great, you just have to be willing. You just have to trust each step as he brings it to you.
Just Cause You’re Willing, Doesn’t Mean It Will Be Easy
I’m not promising that it will be easy or comfortable or what you expect. It might be scary. It might be uncomfortable. Scandal is always a possibility (I’m sure Mary caused quite a scandal in her town). However, if you are doing the thing God has called you to, you can trust that in the end it will work out for the glory of God.
It might not always seem like it’s going to work out. I’m sure Mary had her doubts that God had a good plan for her. I’m sure she was ridiculed and gossiped about and talked about behind her back. Even in the long run, as Mary stood at the foot of the cross watching her firstborn be killed by his own people, I’m guessing she had some doubts about God’s plan and what God told her. Eventually, she got to see the fruition of God’s plan. However, I’m sure she had many, many doubts along the way. Still she was willing. Even when she didn’t understand, she was willing.
God wants the same from you. You don’t have to totally understand. Doubts are okay. Frustration is part of the journey. The only thing God requires is a willing heart.
PS: If you’re looking for something to help get you in the Christmas spirit, follow me on Instagram. Each day until Christmas I’ll be posting lyrics to a different Christmas hymn/carol and giving some background information on it. I’ll also be sharing how this song can uniquely encourage us in the Christmas season and point us to God. You can find me on Instagram here. Follow me and follow along.
Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash
[…] wise men are like Mary (as we looked at in last week’s post), they did what God placed before them to do, despite the fact they didn’t have all the […]