There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the Sun. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Mary’s Dilemma?
Imagine standing still and silent as someone told you something that could lead to you being stoned to death or publicly shamed and humiliated. That everyone you knew, your parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbours and friends would all point and stare at you. That you might be labelled a loose woman, a harlot even though you hadn’t done anything wrong at all.
That is what it meant to be told that you would be pregnant before you got married in Mary’s day. Not just pregnant but pregnant without your fiancé’s involvement! This was a life changing event all right - it was also potentially a life threatening one. But Mary wasn’t thinking that way. Not because she didn’t know the moral and social standards of her time, nor because she longed for the excitement and status of the change. No, she was simply thinking in another way, down another line of thought. It was a very straightforward situation after all.
She was God’s servant and the direction of His leading didn’t change that fact.
Swallow hard and consider - would that have been your first reaction to impossible, potentially dangerous news?
If you are God’s servant the answer would be yes. Perhaps this is the test of character - not what you plan to do for God but what you do when He takes you by surprise.
May all your surprises this season bring you lasting joy, and may you surprise yourself pleasantly this year in ways that take you in new directions and lead you closer to Him.
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 (NIV)
Imagine standing still and silent as someone told you something that could lead to you being stoned to death or publicly shamed and humiliated. That everyone you knew, your parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbours and friends would all point and stare at you. That you might be labelled a loose woman, a harlot even though you hadn’t done anything wrong at all.
That is what it meant to be told that you would be pregnant before you got married in Mary’s day. Not just pregnant but pregnant without your fiancé’s involvement! This was a life changing event all right - it was also potentially a life threatening one. But Mary wasn’t thinking that way. Not because she didn’t know the moral and social standards of her time, nor because she longed for the excitement and status of the change. No, she was simply thinking in another way, down another line of thought. It was a very straightforward situation after all.
She was God’s servant and the direction of His leading didn’t change that fact.
Swallow hard and consider - would that have been your first reaction to impossible, potentially dangerous news?
If you are God’s servant the answer would be yes. Perhaps this is the test of character - not what you plan to do for God but what you do when He takes you by surprise.
May all your surprises this season bring you lasting joy, and may you surprise yourself pleasantly this year in ways that take you in new directions and lead you closer to Him.
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 (NIV)