Mary’s Struggle (and ours)
Can you imagine? One day your life is pretty much like everyone else's, and the next day is the beginning of a life that is very, very hard. Mary's mind must have been spinning after the angel Gabriel announced God's calling.
She would miraculously become pregnant and give birth to Messiah. Mary may have experienced a stream of thought wondering how her family and her community would react. This could be bad. This could be very bad.
Would others believe her? Would she be ostracized? Would Joseph abandon her? Would her family be the object of ridicule? I'm guessing she didn't get much sleep that night.
I find it interesting that Gabriel repeated one part of the message twice.
You are highly favored, and you have found favor with God. It's almost as if he was saying, This is a good thing. You are being blessed. Really.
And of course, then you have the rest of the story that includes the murder of her son.
In all this, however, there was another simple and comforting message to Mary, "The Lord is with you."
And there are other biblical characters that received that assurance as well.
When God turned Moses' life upside down and called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he told Moses, "My presence will go with you."
As God called Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promised land, God reassured him, "Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you."
And when God called Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites, God said, "I will be with you."
When the apostle Paul was facing abuse in Corinth for preaching the gospel, God said, "Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent, for I am with you."
And then we find the author of Hebrews telling Christians what God has said as he urges them to holiness, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."
The truth is, being a believer does not mean life will be easy. What it means is, we belong to Jesus and he will be with us as difficulty comes our way.
It's easy to think that our salvation is only about us, and we should be filled with deep joy because we have been rescued, but the plan of God is to save thousands and millions.
Not just you and me.
And as he calls us to embrace him as more satisfying than anything else, and the difficulty that can come with that, he will be with us.
Jesus disrupts the flow of life. He claims lives, forgives sins, and turns them upside down.
That doesn't mean we will go through what Mary went through, or Joseph for that matter. But when we move our eyes from ourselves to Jesus, things can't stay the same.
Faith in Jesus is a change in who you trust and believe. It's a change in who you listen to.
And this change brings change. When the Holy Spirit moves in and starts to rework our lives, there's going to be a fight between who we once were and who we now are, between where we were going and our new direction.
The challenges of following God's call in life are many, but remember the same God that was with Mary is the God who will not leave us.
We can trust him.
Jesus, you not only save the lost, you renew our lives. I'm sorry for often resisting your Spirit. Thank you for the example of Mary and her willingness to submit to your calling. Please open my eyes to the beauty of your goodness while in the struggle.
As we end, let's remember the words God spoke to his children found in Isaiah chapter 1:
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you."
Song: Mary Did You Know