An Insightful Moment with Mary
About a month ago, pastor did a series of messages on prayer and one of the ones he chose to highlight and discuss indepth was the prayer that Luke writes about in Chapter 1, verse 46 known as "The Magnificat." I had read through Luke earlier in 2005 but I had missed the importance of that prayer - I had totally blown right by it in my eagerness to quickly devour the New Testament. I was approaching the bible like a users manual - "must know the words before they'll let me in the door" kind of thing.
That night at church was the first night that Mary became a three-dimensional person to me. I had no idea that she had been only 15 years of age when the angel Gabriel had come upon her, or that she was a lowly peasant woman who was only recently betrothed to marry Joseph. I had never heard the prelude to the story of the birth of Jesus Christ - it had always started with a donkey ride to Bethlehem. When I heard the story that night, it was like somebody was playing the words in stereo - I could see and hear and feel Mary for who she was for the very first time in my life.
My favorite line in this chapter comes from the prayer at the end. The response to the famous line that Mary speaks to Gabriel, "I am your servant. May it be to me as you say" catches in my throat when the prayer asks us to wonder if the words are really true. Am I really His servant? Am I willing to submit to whatever plans He has for my life, regardless of the risk, the cost, the consequence?
This is the same line I have asked myself every single day since that night back in March of 2005 when my life was altered in an instant. Would I ever get to the point where I would do anything for God? Would I give anything I have to God if He but asked? Would I really set down everything in my life for God and simply walk away if that was His will? Or, would my own humaness and sinful ways make me stop for even just a nanosecond to pause and reflect if He would be worth the sacrifice? Where would I draw the line, I've wondered? How much am I going to be able to give? And, even scarier, how much will He ask?
These questions haunt me still...
That night at church was the first night that Mary became a three-dimensional person to me. I had no idea that she had been only 15 years of age when the angel Gabriel had come upon her, or that she was a lowly peasant woman who was only recently betrothed to marry Joseph. I had never heard the prelude to the story of the birth of Jesus Christ - it had always started with a donkey ride to Bethlehem. When I heard the story that night, it was like somebody was playing the words in stereo - I could see and hear and feel Mary for who she was for the very first time in my life.
My favorite line in this chapter comes from the prayer at the end. The response to the famous line that Mary speaks to Gabriel, "I am your servant. May it be to me as you say" catches in my throat when the prayer asks us to wonder if the words are really true. Am I really His servant? Am I willing to submit to whatever plans He has for my life, regardless of the risk, the cost, the consequence?
This is the same line I have asked myself every single day since that night back in March of 2005 when my life was altered in an instant. Would I ever get to the point where I would do anything for God? Would I give anything I have to God if He but asked? Would I really set down everything in my life for God and simply walk away if that was His will? Or, would my own humaness and sinful ways make me stop for even just a nanosecond to pause and reflect if He would be worth the sacrifice? Where would I draw the line, I've wondered? How much am I going to be able to give? And, even scarier, how much will He ask?
These questions haunt me still...
posted by HeyJules at
6:31 PM
3 Comments:
Jules, truly, don't worry about those things (even though it is human to do so). Because, at the moment that God asks something like that of you, He will give you the grace needed to fulfill it. Might you still struggle? Oh yes, most doubtably I would presume. However, I do know that His grace is sufficient and His enabling power MORE than enough! :)
By
Pilot Mom, at 7:55 PM
I worry about those things too Jules.... I know what Im supposed to do and yet, conciously I choose the other direction... why? I dont really know all the time.... but Paul was the same way, and he did great things for God, so just gotta keep pushing on toward the prize, I guess
By
dangermama, at 8:15 AM
That's a great way to look at it, Addie. It's so funny though that every time I say "Use me as you wish, God" I then immediately think "as long as you send me somewhere with indoor plumbing..."
By
HeyJules, at 9:46 AM
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