I love this time of year for many reasons. Most importantly, we get to celebrate the birth of Christ. As this season rolls around every year, I often find myself thinking more about Mary, the mother of Jesus. I am an anxious worrisome woman who comes from a long line of anxious worrisome women. I can’t imagine all the ways, being the mother of Jesus, brought fear and anxiety to Mary. I know we will never know exactly how she felt in all the very pivotal moments in her life but I imagine her being an example of great peace.
Sonny, my husband, preached the most amazing sermon on Sunday about the birth of Jesus and it got me thinking even more about Mary.
Imagine you are a teenage girl, and some random angel informs you that you will be giving birth to the Messiah. Mind you….you will be pregnant as a virgin. Now, if it were me, I would have been freaking out for sure, explaining to them that they clearly have the wrong person and there must be some big ole misunderstanding. I can only imagine that being so young, she had to have been so frightened about what was to come and I am sure she was wondering “why me?’. Her response to the angel completely baffles me.
Luke 1:30-33 “ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her."
Her response, at least to me, sounds so calm and resolved. There was no argument, just a simple acknowledgement of her willingness to do what she had been called to do. Once she accepted her calling, she then had to endure the gossip, the pain of labor and just simply being the mother of Jesus. Mary knew that Jesus would not always belong to her. She understood that she would have to let him go to fulfill His bigger and greater purpose. Imagine the time she must have spent searching for peace, peace from God, peace in her decisions as the mother of Jesus, peace in watching him suffer and die. As a mother, it is something I will never be able to understand or imagine.
But Mary believed in God. She trusted Him and His will for her and her son. Is this how we feel? Do we believe in God so deeply that we trust His will and plan for us? It’s not easy to do. The world is full of hurt people who hurt people.
Being the mother of two teenagers, I see how cruel the world can be, especially to our kids. It is so hard to watch them hurt, to listen to their cries and to support them as they try to find their way. We have to learn to let them go just like Mary had to let her son go. What our children will go through and how we suffer in watching them is no comparison to what Mary and Jesus experienced as mother and son.
I can only believe that Mary spent many, many hours in prayer, praying for the peace that passes understanding, peace that can only come from knowing God and believing that His love for us goes beyond anything we could ever understand.
The peace that comes from God is the calm we feel in the middle of the storm. It’s the moment of stillness, when we can actually take slow deep breaths and feel ourselves relax. It’s that moment we hear God say, “I’ve got you, trust me”. Sometimes, we get so busy with life and all the things we have to get accomplished or worry about, that we forget to just sit and listen. I believe for me at least, that peace begins with humility. It’s me acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers, that I can’t fix everything. That humility, along with giving every fearful thought I have and laying it at the feet of Jesus, is the only chance I have for real peace.
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
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