December 19, 2024

Mary is obviously a very important person in the Christmas story.  It was obvious this young woman was of strong character and faithful to God.  She was seen by God as the right choice to be the mother of the Messiah.  Her life gives us a couple of good examples that we can follow for our own lives.  First, she was given a hard assignment that didn't make sense from a normal human perspective.  She asked: how can a virgin bear a child? This is a legitimate question and makes perspective sense.  She was seeing things from her own lens and did not consider or think about the miracle that God was going to do.  This wasn't a lack of trust, but more a question to try to gain understanding of how this would be possible.  When we face things that seem to make no sense from our Earthly it is okay for us to respectfully ask questions for God to bring us understanding and clarity.  Her questions were not rejecting God's plan, but rather were seeking how it would work.  We should remember that is okay to ask God for understanding when things aren't clear for us.

Secondly, and most importantly, she gave the proper response to God's commands.  I am the Lord's servant.  She knew who she was in relationship to God, and she knew her role was obedience to God's plan.  So, then her response is basically- let your will be done God.  Do with my life what you desire God.  We need to remember that we are also the Lord's servants and when it comes to His will for our lives the only proper answer is "Yes Lord".  This is not just for the specific calls.  Mary was able to answer God correctly when she is called to something really big because she lived each day in simple obedience to God's will in the small, everyday things of life.  She didn't become God's servant when she was told about Jesus.  She lived as God's servant daily and was eventually given a big role.  We need to daily say "Yes" to living for God.  Then when a big thing (like a mission trip or evangelistic opportunity comes up) we are already faithful and obedient servants ready to say yes to what we may find more challenging or difficult.