I love pondering the life of Mary during the advent season. I remember the first time the virgin birth really impacted me. I was in my 20’s and holding my 8-week old daughter, sitting in the pew of the church I grew up in. The pastor spoke of her situation. He described in great detail what it might have been like to be pregnant before marriage back in that day. He painted the nativity scene with such color and emotion, I sat in my seat weeping.
I’m sure Mary had questions, maybe even some doubts. But I’m also struck by her faithfulness. As such a young woman, an angel appeared to her and told her she was going to carry God’s son. I don’t know about you, but I know my spirit and pace of life is not always positioned to hear bold statements like this from angels. Mary’s heart must have been so tender toward the Lord, her faith so big.
I’m praying I can grab on to some of that in these last days leading up to Christmas. I want the birth of my Savior to overwhelm me in a new way; I want a posture of willingness and listening, like Mary’s, so that God can tell me something totally crazy, and onward I would go.
Photo: Proverbs 31 Ministries