Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you.

 

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

 

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

 

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am. (Mark Lowry)

Just yesterday I was setting down a work site and the above song came to mind and I have thought and sung this song a lot since and thoughts have been forming in my Head.

Mary was approached by an angel and called the most blessed among women and told that she would be the one to bear the Messiah….the saviour of the world…the appointed servant of God who would free the people and cause them to turn back to Him. She was pure, engaged, and honourable. My mind tells me that she was simple and true to life and the kind of child any parent would love to have yet she was called out, set apart, singled out and spoken to by the angel of the Lord. Correct me if I am wrong but in those days the voice of God was uncommon to the common man yet Here was a simple young lady seeing the messenger of God…..AWESOME!!!!!

I am looking at Luke 1:26-42 and there are things that have astounded me;

• God sent angel Gabriel (v26)…not another angel whose name we do not know but the archangel according to many interpretations to speak to a young lady. The only other record I can find of a personal visit by Gabriel is Daniel (Dan 9:20-27 and He had been praying for it….
• Mary was a virgin and pledged in marriage (v27)…..untouched but going on with life. She had not stopped to wonder what was going on but was living a life that He could look at be glad He created Her.
• The angel said, “…you are highly favoured and the Lord is with you….you have found favour with God…” (v28;30) What a pronouncement. There was no doubt that she would achieve a lot just because of this state. She lived to see the ministry of her son revealed and committed as well as see Him die to achieve his purpose on earth.
• You will bring forth a son and…name Him Jesus. He will be great…called the Most High…reign over the house of Jacob forever….the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…nothing is impossible with God” (v31; 35) Notice that the only way for Her destiny to be brought to its fullness was for the Holy Spirit to come and the Most high to OVERSHADOW Her…it was impossible any other way.
• He provided proof by telling her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and she had not yet heard. (v 36) She did not know that her cousin was pregnant in her old age and remember when they met later the child within Elizabeth jumped at the sound of Mary’s voice and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (v41). God confirmed his word and reassured her of his purpose for her.
• She said two things: “how will this be?”(v34) and “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”(v38) She is the simplest and strangest woman I have ever known. Just one question and acceptance of something that would change her life forever. She would be shunned if this came out but she was less concerned about that and more concerned about Her father’s opinion and the task He had set out for Her to do. She declared her position, the Lord’s servant, and accepted her job description for the moment….MIND BLOWING.

 Did she know all the things Mark Lowry asks in his song? I believe she had a clue but did not understand the fullness of it all. How would it be if she knew the kind of death her son would die? Or the life He would live? Or the trials and challenges He would face? Or the loss she would feel when He said that his family are those that love his father? Or when He asked her what the lack of wine had to do with Him? She had an inclination of what and who her son would be, yet even despite the fact that she was without a true understanding of the gravity of it she accepted her role and moved into it with confidence and peace. She did go away to find encouragement and lived with Elizabeth for a while. I wonder what she used that time for! And Elizabeth said “Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished,” (v44).

In so many ways it beats logic that there could be such easy acceptance of the things God is saying even when they are drastic and strange yet I know that this is the way God desires that we deal with Him. In this moment when He is saying all sorts of different things to us that are seemingly impossible and greater than we can imagine He desires for us to be like Mary and simply accept what He is saying and believe that because He has said it that is enough. So I ask myself…Is this for real? Can I ever come to the place where I will sooner accept than question and believe at the same time that I am and can be all that He has called me to be?

Did she know that her baby was Heaven’s perfect lamb? Probably not. Yet there such strange things happening about the time He was born and throughout his life that eventually she did come to see the fullness of what she had carried. Yet from the beginning she believed with all Her Heart and became a willing vessel for God to use and make his will known and delivered. WOW. This could only come from a deep confirmation and faith in God and the knowledge that He keeps his word and can be trusted.

As I write this I realise that I too may not know the true extent of what I carry in me and I would love to. However, I know for a fact that I am blessed and highly favoured and God wants to use me as a vessel to achieve something big for Him. The question He is simply asking of me is whether I am willing to say be it unto me according to your word, and walk in the direction He takes me without a care of how radical it sounds and seemingly stupid to the human eye. I am not seeking human approval rather my Heart craves Heavenly approval. I can only reach my determined destiny if I hold onto Him and make his will and plan for me the priority. I must walk in obedience to what He tells me regardless of how crazy it may seem and find peace and hope in Him. At the end of the day I know that He is in everything that happens in my life big or small and I must find the joy that comes from being close to Him.

 This my Lord is the desire of my Heart that I learn to follow you without question and fault and keep so close to you that there is no doubt in my Heart and mind. That I may learn to trust you and believe you above all others and that I may keep my Heart wholly devoted to you. May it be so to me as you have said!

 “Blessed is anyone who has believed that what the Lord has said to him/her will be accomplished.” (My paraphrase)