The God of the Impossible

 

I was sitting down this morning, frustrated in how my morning was going.  I slept in (6:30 a.m. for me), so I missed the "dark" part of the morning.  The part of day where I find myself to be the most creative and the most open to listening.  I had already reheated my cold cup of coffee twice.  My cat plopped himself right on top of my desk, right between my coffee cup - my piles - and my laptop.  My foot was swollen and hurting more (see my most recent Instagram post for that update).  To say I was in a crappy mood was an understatement.

I scrolled through my social media accounts, DM'd a few girlfriends funny posts, and texted back and forth with a few people.  Not exactly the order I do things each morning, but my mood was not allowing for much more.

I "reluctantly" turned over to my "Jesus time," thinking, "It's morning.  I gotta do it."  And then this...

Luke 1:38.  Mary's very short and succinct word to the Angel standing before her, "I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled."  Ouch.

I'm pretty sure Mary's spoken response to the Lord's Angel was not intended to "zing" us, but as with all Scripture, it is fluid and it changes.  You can read a story one day and it not affect you at all, and then you may read it another day when you are struggling with something, and BAM!  It is suddenly full of meaning.

Hence, today's reading.

Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled."

She was 16 you guys.  SIXTEEN.  How many 16-year olds have that kind of maturity?  Some maybe.  But not a great majority I don't think.  Yet, it was a different time and so much more was expected of 16-year olds in Mary's day.

She was pledged to be married already and GOD (yes, GOD) chose her to bear His son.  AT SIXTEEN.  Stop and digest that a minute.  Can you even imagine that at 16?  I know I can't.  I was an entirely different person at 16, and I certainly didn't know the Lord on the personal level I do now.  I cannot imagine being pledged to marry someone or an Angel of the Lord appearing to me.

Wow, what a beautiful soul Mary must have been.

And yet, all she is recorded as saying is, "I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled."

As I read my devotion today (below for those of you that need a word this morning), that's the one thing I came away with.  

No matter what is going on in your life.  No matter what physical, emotional, or mental battle you are struggling with - the ONLY thing you have to do is SERVE GOD today.  

So I am going to take Mary's words today and apply it to myself, "I am your servant Lord.  May your Word to me be fulfilled."  Change my attitude today - embrace the late start, the cold coffee sitting in the microwave, and the cat who has his head on my computer mouse and paw on my screen.

It's one week, exactly, before Christmas, and I have a LIST like the rest of my family and friends - but instead of embracing the crappy feelings swelling up inside of me and possibly swirling downhill, I'm going to try and refocus and redirect on Mary today.  Try to embrace the person she was - her true, inner core of a person.

Sometimes, Mary gets looked over all and by-passed too quickly in the story of Jesus.  Today, let's embrace those two simple sentences the Holy Spirit thought were important enough to be included in Scripture.  I think they can make a difference.

“The God of the Impossible”

As we move forward through the Christmas season, we realize even in the simple beginning of the story of Jesus’ conception and birth, God is a God of the impossible. God made an unlikely choice in choosing a poor, young woman. Her humble life seemed to make her an unlikely choice for such a great task.

We know that God is a God of the impossible because Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive and give birth to a son. Mary is a virgin. She feels unworthy and unfit for such a role. Gabriel makes clear that all of this will happen through the Holy Spirit. Her response is “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” In all humility, she accepts what has been said to her. 

We too feel unworthy, uneducated, unprepared, and unable to embrace our new future in Christ. We even feel this way about our health journey, but I must remind you that our God is a God of the impossible. We can accomplish everything he calls us to do.

Our God is a God of the impossible. Jesus came so that we might have life and that life can be a healthy life. Let’s embrace the healthy life that Jesus has for us.

What greater expectation can we have this Christmas? Realize that Jesus brought to us the gift of eternal life and that life begins in the present. Life starts now."