A few weeks ago, while dumb-scrolling on Instagram, I came across a reel reflecting on Mary’s predicament in Luke 1. To be husbandless in that context and carry such a burden, yet to be chosen by God for a task that would change humanity forever.
As I pondered Mary and her Song of Praise (Luke 1:46-55), my thoughts shifted to another woman in the same chapter, Elizabeth.
Unlike Mary, Elizabeth was old and barren. Luke 1:7 tells us, “They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both very old.” Yet within the same chapter, God’s promise is fulfilled through a barren old woman and a young woman, not yet married, and husbandless!
When we read Luke 1, it records both Praise and Prophecy.
Mary’s Song and Zechariah’s Prophecy (Luke 1:46; 1:67–79).
A praise and a prophecy, unfolding exactly as scripture promised.
Reflecting on my own season this year, I ask myself how these verses speak into my life. This year I prayed, fasted, for certain doors to open, and nothing happened. The more I prayed, the tighter the doors closed! And it was some of the quickest prayers I have witnessed, express delivery! Doors closed, and walls rose. Walls rising higher than the Wall of the North. (Game of Thrones).
I prayed for open doors, and the opposite happened, I waited for direction, and not a single sign, and in my impatience even applied for a role, despite sensing it wasn’t yet time and clinging to Exodus 33:15., and no surprise I received zero response. Another wilderness, fruitless, barren season?
Yet, as I reflect on Elizabeth and Mary, both used by God, both seemingly hopeless in the eyes of the world, I am reminded how the story unfolds.
One past childbearing age; the other facing shame, rejection (even death, to be stoned) and yet generations would call Mary blessed (v.48), and light would come to those in darkness (v.79).
Not everyone may be walking this path, but for those who carry within us areas of being unproductive or fruitless, or who fear being shunned for choosing God’s will over societal expectations...
Especially for those of us in full-time ministry, we like to see results, we love numbers, we want to be productive, busy serving the Lord, and so when He tells us to wait, it's almost a contradiction. Our response always is, 'Here I am, Lord, send me', not delay me? So why?
You see, faith requires waiting and the risk of ridicule (remember Noah?), but it is always worth the wait and the risk.
Perhaps this is our Advent reminder: in God’s time, nothing remains barren, and He will never shun, forget, or forsake us. When the time is right, “I, the Lord, will make it happen.” What seems impossible becomes possible.
And so, on my part, what I can do is to trust in the Lord with all my heart, to lean not on my own understanding, to acknowledge Him in all my ways, at times even to risk being ridiculed, but it will be with the wait...
Because we are God’s chosen ones, and we operate on God’s calendar :)
Blessed Advent!
No comments:
Post a Comment