Mary

As roommates we are trying to do a weekly advent to remind ourselves in the midst of the business and different culture and traditions that the root of Christmas is still Jesus no matter where you go in the world.  Clearly we are awesome at doing advent together since it is week one and we did it tonight… Wednesday… instead of Sunday.  Whoops.  But tonight we read a passage from Martin Luther written about Mary and I was stuck by it.

Luther mentions that Mary was probably 13-15 years old when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her.  I think I have probably heard that before in years past, but it has never hit home like it did for me tonight.  That is younger than Y, our youngest mom.  A child was chosen by God to carry His Son, to give birth to Him, to care for him.  I can tell you that even in a culture where being a teenage mom is common and families start to form at a young age, there are still a lot of things that a 15 year old does not have the life experience to know about being a mom. 

I am seeing my sin in my life so much these days… I long for the best.  My car is terrible and I complain about it all the time.  It still breaks down about once every other week and is sucking my pocket dry and I want to replace it with a toyota or a honda, the best brand, something reliable, something I can trust.  I am planning a wedding and keep trying to take into consideration who would do the best job, run things on time, has shown in the past that they are capable.  And if I had a child of my own you can count on the fact that I would only want to leave him in the capable hands of an adult who I knew would love and protect him, provide, and wisely care for him. 

I can promise you that Mary was not the best choice.  Why not a seasoned mother of 4 who already knew how to deal with ear infections and midnight crying spells?  History doesn´t tell us if Mary´s parents were alive or if she had a good support system.  She and teenage Joseph delivered a baby in the middle of a barn for goodness sake… there wasn´t a seasoned grandma there helping them know what do to.  And yet God choose her.  Martin Luther sees to think it was a wise choice and in the end I think I agree.

Mary had faith.  She trusted in what her eyes could not see and what common sense told her could not be true.  She took God at his Word and made herself available to be used by Him.  She walked in faith as He laid every step out in front of her.  I want to see the whole picture, I get really frustrated with only knowing the first step.  But Mary could not possibly have known that night while talking to the angel that Joseph would accept her, that they would be safe on their journey to Bethlehem, that her delivery would go well, that Jesus would be healthy.  But she trusted and said… let it be to me as you have said.  One foot at a time, step by step in faith.

I´m challenged tonight in the details of my life to stop striving so hard for what I think would be good for me and just trust that the God of the universe knows me and my needs and I can trust Him and walk in faith.