In the spirit of understanding Advent more and what it is to anicipate the coming of Christ, I have been spending my morning devotions focusing on what it would have been like to be alive when Christ was born, especially what Mary may have felt as the Lord spoke to her about carrying the Son of God. This is a bit from my journal and I hope it speaks to you.
I am amazed at the way you so humbly ame and spoke to such a young girl and promised her a son, but not just any son, THE Son, the man who would change the world. God, I can’t imagine what was going through her mind and how afraid she was. God, Mary had something. She found favor in your eyes and she trued you, despite the fear that came over her, she trusted you. She knew you would take care of every detail and you would provide peace to her heart through it all.
God make me into Mary for one moment. God put me in her shoes and let me feel what she felt and go through what it would have been like. Mary was very scared when you sent the angel to her and wondered if she was in trouble, that the life she was living had not been a worthy one. But then you bring the angel to say that you are proud of her and to have peace in her heart because you are most definantly with her and you have incredible plans for her life.
Then you threw a double whammy at her. She i going to have a child, not just a child, but the child, the Son of God, the one everyone has been waiting for, and God chose her to carry and give birth to. He chose her, Mary, a teenager, is going to have the Son of God, the Messiah, the one they all were waiting for, the one she had waited for all her life. SHE was going to give birth to him. But this was not as she thought it would be. This was not what anyone expected it would be. Did that change what the angel said? Did that mean that it wasn’t really Jesus in her, the Son of God? How could that be. Just because it wasn’t how she thought it would happen, did that mean it wasn’t true? How precious the peace you brought upon this young woman, who in fear and trembling gave herself to carry the most important man in history and took the responsibility to keep him safe and trust you when you asked for him back, in a way that meant watching him die for the world that killed him.
I pray that you, Lord would make me like Mary, saying yes to whatever you call me to do, knowing that you are using me to change the world, and knowing that you have everything in your hands, whether or not I understand any of it or not. Help me, in this season of anticipation of your coming understand the hope and the peace that you brought the world through a baby, who would one day be the one who changed it all. Let me not be distracted from this fact and grow me closer to you as I understand more fully how to love and honor you.
…and help me to ANTICIPATE Your plans for my life, even if they don’t look like I thought they would. <3