Behold the Handmaid of the Lord
“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
Mary’s quiet spirit has always fascinated me. Every mention of her in the Bible shows her handling things with dignity and courage.
Everybody has a person or persons they look up to or feel a kindred spirit with. Mary is one of those people for me.
The first time the Bible introduces her, Mary has just been visited by the angel Gabriel who tells her tidings that would forever change her life and alter the trajectory of the whole world. The news she received would cause even the most courageous of people to cringe in awe and yet her response was to simply accept the truth and surrender her whole life into the hands of God without question.
I have not always handled revelations from God with such grace and trust, or gumption for that matter and they are nowhere near what Mary was told. There are times I have fretted and strived and even argued with Him but He always has a way of gently demonstrating His way is best and for my good. I may be a slow learner but I’m getting smarter. 😉
This year, as I press into all God has for me, I want to face whatever comes my way with Mary’s same powerful statement of surrender that set-in motion the victory charge of heaven. Had she rejected what God wanted to do in her and through her, we could be reading about someone else who did heed the call and Mary would have missed out on one of the greatest moments in all of history (Not to mention so many other things). But she didn’t reject. Rather she humbly embraced the call with a peace that passed all understanding and through her obedience, God’s ultimate plan of salvation continued to unfold. Wow, just…wow!
No matter how big or small I think a promise or revelation from God is, like Mary, I want to simply revel in the awe and wonder of how He is going to bring His word to pass. It won’t always be easy. Just as Mary didn’t know what travail, rejection, suffering and questions the surrendered “yes” was to entail, I don’t know what is in store for me.
However, here is what I do know. The God of yesterday, today and forever protected, cherished and blessed Mary (and Joseph) through everything, and He is going to do the same for me. That same faithfulness that sustained them will sustain me.
I am not saying yes in surrender to a God who cannot; I’m saying yes to the Creator of heaven and earth who is able to do abundantly, exceedingly above what I could ever ask or think.
It is with my confidence anchored in God that I humbly agree with all He has revealed and promised He wants to do in my life by echoing Mary’s words,
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
Will you join me?
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