Christmas is fast approaching. All my decorations are in place and Christmas music is playing around-the-clock. I close down the house each night, turning off lights and starting the dishwasher. It’s my favorite time of day, when I have a few moments with my own thoughts.
I sit in the living room, lost in the tree lights. My eyes drift to the nativity my mom bought me for my first married Christmas eight years ago. I think about Mary, and about how she must have felt when the angel told her she would bear the the Savior of all mankind. Scared, unsure, feeling ill-equipped, she was called to a path that no one else in all of history would ever travel; the very thing that God had ordained for her before the foundations of the earth.
I think about us, here in two thousand twelve. How God has uniquely purposed our lives, too. But I wonder if we expect His plan to be neatly packaged? When we say yes to God, do we assume He’ll go before us and unravel all the knots and iron out the wrinkles?
Mary said yes to God’s plan for her life. A beautiful, miraculous, game-changing plan. The most important course of events that has ever unfolded on the timeline of human history…
…and then she almost lost the man that she’d promised to marry. She dealt with stares and whispers from those who assumed the worst of the unwed pregnant girl. At nine months pregnant she rode a donkey for two days to an obscure town. Surely God would’ve prepared a nice room for them? Of course He did not intend to be born in a stable? No clean sheets. No comfy bed. No place to rest her weary body after labor & delivery.
What did she sign up for? Was this really God’s plan? Did she hear Him correctly?
Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13 NIV)
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NIV)
The testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:3-4 NIV)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
Be encouraged friends. When you’re called far out of your comfort zone and things start to go wrong? That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve misunderstood God. Life is just plain hard, and you can bet the enemy is working overtime in the lives of God’s most faithful servants. God never promised us an easy life, but He promised freedom, peace, and joy in our obedience to Him.
Is there something specific God has asked you to do? Did you feel like everything started to fall apart after you said yes?
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Aly- LOVE this post! I feel like we sipped from the same cup ‘o’ divine inspiration on this one!! I truly appreciate your reminder that belief does not equate to relief from trials and the unknown. Though I pray for the strength to confidently say “yes”, I am still left worrying. Mary’s story definitely opens my eyes to His ways, and reminds me that when I’m obedient, I will conquer anythjng He gives me and my family!
You have an amazing way with words, I cannot wait to read more from you! xo
Kristin Cho recently posted..Christmas Devotional: Day 3
Kristin, thank you for your sweet words (i think the same about you- a way with words). i appreciate what you said in your other comment that “the teacher is most silent during a test”. though that hasn’t always been true for me, it will definitely help when it is true, you know? i really do have the “sense of entitlement” i talked about above. not on purpose, but just an underlying assumption that everything will start going right, and that’s just not Truth. i just wrestle with it. i’m glad we’re on the same page!
Amen! I know the entitlement, believe me lol It is truly a battle with our flesh!!
Hi Aly
This post was so beautiful, and just what I needed to hear today. It is so easy to be overcome with doubt..the closer we draw to Christ and his purpose for us the more the enemy seems to send in his attacks. I agree with you though, we have to keep rejoicing even in the rough times. It’s all preparation for something far greater then we could ever fathom. Thank you for encouraging me today. Lot’s of Love! Xo
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kristin,
i’m so with you about the enemy’s attacks getting stronger as we draw closer to our purpose in Christ. and why wouldn’t he? i love this quote from “captivating” (by john & stasi eldredge):
“the wounds you have received have come to you for a purpose from the one who knows all you are meant to be and FEARS YOU.”
amen? that gets me fired up, realizing what power we have through Christ to combat the enemy. and just thinking that he fears ME is a pretty crazy thought.
anyway, thanks for your comment!
Aly Allen recently posted..when we say yes to God
amen, aly! thanks for sharing this reminder to TRUST him in the yes.
love you! xo
hannah singer recently posted..this beauty is my testimony
hannah, you are such a blessing and encouragement to me. thank you, friend
Aly Allen recently posted..when we say yes to God
I was reading 1 Peter 1 today and YES YES YES! Trials must happen to show our faith, which brings glory to Him. He must be glorified through something! But you are SO right. I think we often think that saying YES means that God is going to give us earthly blessings. Not always so.
Thanks for the reminder to remain humble.
And P.S. I adore that nativity!
lindsy,
yes, it’s definitely a reminder to remain humble! and not be so surprised when things go wrong, like 1 Peter says. that word “surprised” is the perfect word, because i think sometimes we really are surprised!?!
thanks for your comment, girl!
Aly Allen recently posted..when we say yes to God
Aly, I love this post! We often think of the pregnancy and birth as it concerns her relationship with Joseph, but to put it into the perspective of how ‘everything’ seemed to go ‘wrong’ instead of
perfect was always there but somehow hidden. Thank you so much for reminding us.
hi Charlotte,
yes, i know what you mean. last christmas was the first time i thought about all of the little details that went “wrong”, and put all of this together in my mind. you’d think, of all people and of all the events, this one would play out magically and wonderfully without a hitch. but that’s just the thing- God’s purposes are always higher than ours. they can’t always be understood, but they can always be trusted.
thanks for your comment!
Aly Allen recently posted..when we say yes to God
Such a timely post! I’ve been leaning on those verses for the past year and refusing to waste whatever God has for me through this season!
Thank you for writing this – so beautifully!
yes, Rachel! refusing to waste it- i’m right there with you. i’d hate to have to learn the same lesson twice, because i wasted it the first time, right?
but seriously, it puts things in such perfect perspective when we can submit to God’s purposes and allow Him to mold us. i always look back and trials and hard seasons, and i realize i’d never want to go back and be the person i was before them, you know?
sometimes it takes meditating on verses like this every single hour, but the outcome? being refined in the fire? so worth it.
thanks for your comment!
Aly Allen recently posted..when we say yes to God