"But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him 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 Jacob's descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.'" Luke 1:30-33.
I decided to just flip through the gospels this morning. Because I'm overwhelmed and I'm tired and I'm disappointed. So I just went back to the Christmas story. The hope story, where it all comes together and the world is saved from eternal destruction.
And the words have been echoing in my heart ever since. I've heard them since I was a child and imagine you might have too. But this time I discovered something new. A faint whisper of the hopes that must've been born in Mary's heart that day.
The angel didn't say that her joy would be turned to sorrow before the story was finished.
The angel didn't say her Son would be misunderstood by most and rejected by many.
The angel didn't say He will be crucified right before her eyes.
Instead, the angel said He will be great. He will be given a throne. He will reign and His kingdom will never end.
I don't know what was going through Mary's mind as her Son's life unfolded, but I can imagine what most likely filled her heart at times. Confusion, questioning, wondering if she heard God wrong.
I feel that. All the time. that confusion, that questioning, that wondering if I heard God wrong.
But this morning, Mary gave me hope.
Just because what God has said doesn't turn out the way we pictured it doesn't mean it's not real.
Jesus IS great.
Jesus DOES have a throne.
Jesus IS reigning over a kingdom that will never end.
It just didn't happen the way Mary probably expected. What got her through? I imagine Mary kept praying the same prayer she did in Luke 1:38 when the angel first spoke to her: "I am the Lord's servant. May Your word to me be fulfilled". Perhaps she softly spoke it as she leaned over a manger. Maybe she spoke it every time she overheard rumors and gossip about Jesus as she stood in the local marketplace. Maybe she spoke it as a cry of grief and surrender at the foot of the cross.
Her prayer is the prayer I will never stop praying.
I am Your servant, Father. May Your word to me be fulfilled.
I will say it in desperation with tears streaming down my face. I will shout it at the top of my anger-filled lungs. I will whisper it with the last bit of strength I have left. Because God is faithful, and what He has spoken will come true.
Maybe not the way I pictured.
Maybe not the way I planned.
Maybe not the way I wanted.
But it will happen.
So I will continue to live in the heart of this truth. and I will not give up.
If you are weary today, I pray you will remember that you have not been abandoned or forgotten. God is working.
and when you least expect it, in a way that you may hardly even recognize at first, He's going to fulfill all that He has promised.
You are His servant, and it will be to you as He has said. No matter what.
I am His servant. and it will be to me as He has said. No matter what.
