Mary Was Willing

Last week, we talked about what Joseph had to do to prepare himself for that first Christmas, the birth of Christ. This week, I want to talk about Mary.

Mary was a young girl, pledged to be married to Joseph. Not yet married, she was still a virgin. We could say that her preparation started there and be correct. Were she not a virgin, she could not have been the mother of Jesus.

Where I want to pick up Mary's story, however, is in Luke 1:26, when Gabriel appears to her with the incredible announcement that she is to give birth to a son, the Son of the Most High. Mary, of course, questioned how this could come to be, as she was, as we mentioned, a virgin. Gabriel explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35).

Now, Mary was young, but she wasn't dumb. She knew what it meant to be a virgin, and she knew what it meant to be pregnant, and how the two were related. She also knew what it meant to be pregnant before being married. At best, she risked being ostracized. At worst, stoned to death. Joseph, nor any other respectable man, would want her as his wife.

And who would believe some story about an angel appearing to her, and that the Most High had come upon her and overshadowed her? God had been silent for a long time, and even when He had been speaking and interacting with His People before His silence, He had never done anything like this. Very few, if any would believe her.

Mary, then, was faced with a decision. Now, I don't know if she could have refused God's will in this matter or not, but she certainly could have argued. She could have presented her case and her concerns. She could have begged for mercy, asked God to wait until she was married, to allow her to remain a respectable woman.

She didn't.

Mary's response, in Luke 1:38, sums up her response. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

I am the Lord's servant. God knows more than I do. I am willing. That's what Mary said there. I am willing. To be used as God wants me to be used. To do what God wants me to do. To risk losing what I have, or might have in the future, to be obedient to God's will.

That took courage. That took guts. That took faith.

Being willing to be used of, by, and for God isn't an easy thing. He often calls us to step outside our comfort zone, to do things which seem, and are to us alone, impossible. He asks us to take risks, and sometimes to make sacrifices. God never said that doing His will would be easy. What God says is that He knows best, and our efforts and sacrifices will never go to waste or unnoticed (by Him).

As you are preparing for Christmas, I urge you to consider your willingness to be God's servant. Not just when it's easy and comfortable, but when it's hard and uncomfortable. I urge you to be like Mary, to offer yourself as His servant, and to do whatever He asks.