"She said, "Yes..."

As the Christmas season is quickly coming to an end I wanted to share a thought I've been pondering...about Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Mary a simple, humble TEENAGER who was engaged to be married. Can you imagine her excitement about the thoughts of getting married. I mean I've never been engaged...but I'm telling you what I would be so SUPER excited...cartwheels would often be performed. In the Jewish religion (of which she belonged) - it was not uncommon for teenage girls to get married. I mean if a boy became a man at 13, they would need someone to marry that was of like age. Therefore, I have to believe that teenagers of that day had much more responsibility, training and preparation at living a life that today we would consider to be a life lived by an adult...with the responsibilities of a marriage, children and a home all before your 21 - what we today consider a full fledged adult.

But imagine how Mary must have felt the night the Angel came to her to tell her that she had been chosen by God to carry HIS son inside her womb, to give birth (which also means to give life to) HIS son and to raise HIS son - yet she'd never been with a man and the child she would give birth to would not be the son of the man she was to marry. I'm sure her was full of a potpourri of emotions. Fear. Humbleness. Confusion. Excitement. Honor. Anger. Joy. The Bible doesn't tell us about her emotions - but let's not forget that Mary was human - just as you and I. So I can't help but believe that in that moment and days weeks to come, she didn't have a million emotions filling her mind and body. I mean have you ever experienced the emotions of a pregnant woman. Again I've never been pregnant - but I've been around enough women who have been to know that their overly emotional. So let's not forget that Mary was human - just because she was carrying Jesus - doesn't mean she didn't have the normal experiences, side-effects of pregnancy. But yet the Bible never tells us that she ever told the angel "No." Was no even an option? Could she have said no? What if she had said no? Did God have a back-up plan? These are the things I've been pondering over the last week or so.

Let's imagine if she had said no - okay let's not! Okay, maybe just a little to get a point across, but let's not dive too deep into it - as we don't want to divert from what God's Word does tell us about Mary and her willingness. Imagine Mary said "No, I'm not going to do this"...for whatever reason. I mean she had plenty, right? She wasn't married - and I'm certain that pregnancy outside of wedlock was NOT looked highly upon in Mary's time - so she faced rejection, gossip, whispers as she walked by and judgement from Joseph, her family, friends and even those who did not know her. I'm sure she feared and worried about Joseph's reaction and acceptance - how was she going to feel about this, what if he didn't believe that she had kept herself and remained faithful. She could have been concerned about the reaction of family, friends and others in her community - how was she ever going to explain this and still have them believe her...that she was carrying the Messiah...that she of all the young women (past, present and future) she had been selected. I mean let's face reality here folks - if someone told us a story like this today...would we 100% without a shadow of a doubt believe them? I personally, can't say as though I would. Imagine if she said "No", and there was no back-up plan. The whole world would have lost out on salvation because of her choice to not be the vessel in which God would bring salvation to this world. Imagine the horror. That thought is too much to bear and too vast to wrap my mind around. Yet with all of the excuses she had, all the other girls that God could have selected - Mary said "yes"...she said "yes". She said "yes" and had faith that God would work out all the details and questions in her mind. God had given her - an ordinary girl - an extra-ordinary ministry...she was going to be used of God to change this world FOREVER. It was going to take some explaining, some rejection (I'm sure), some being made fun of, standing out in the crowd and lots of patience, faith and trust...yet she was willing.

What about me? Just an ordinary lady - that God want to use in extraordinary ways. He wants to use me to change my "world" and those around me - to point them to Him. He wants me to carry His gospel - not inside my womb...but on the outside of my life for all the world to see. But yet sometimes I say "no"...oh the horror of that. Because it's not comfortable, others may reject me, I might stand out in the crowd, I don't have time to be that involved, or whatever the excuse is. Never considering that God has selected me for this ministry. It might mean smiling to others on a bus, cooking a meal for someone in need, taking the opportunities He gives me to share my faith with my Jewish boss or working with, at times disrespectful immature unappreciative, teenagers...or maybe something new in 2011? Whatever it is...over the last two weeks God has opened my eyes to the fact that we can't just say "no" because we can't see how it's all going to work itself out...but that's not why God calls me to a ministry. God calls me because he wants to use me to change the world of those I come in contact with - to point them to Him and I, like Mary, just need to see how HE is going to work at all the details and questions of my mind.

When God looks at me, and how I live all aspects of my life - I want him to say..."she said yes."