Mary: Chosen
Growing up, I was not athletic. I was Miss. Butterfingers. I could not catch or hit a ball if my life depended on it. Now that I am grown, that has still not changed 😂. This meant that I was rarely chosen to be in anyone’s team. I was usually the last person picked and when I was, I was relegated to the position of fetching the balls that went astray. Thing is, sports and sports related activities, with the exception of swimming, are not my fortè. And in as much as I desired it, sports did not choose me. Eventually, perhaps out of sympathy, academics chose me 😃And so it is with vision. We rarely choose our vision, our vision chooses us. This week, we look at this truth through the life of Mary who was chosen to birth our Lord into the world.
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.
Luke 1:26-28
The Lord had a vision concerning the birth of His Son. In His vision, He identified Mary as the woman He would use to bring forth His Son into the world.
☆ The vision always comes from God.
God waited for the specific moment He would fill Mary in on His plan for her life. In the meantime, Mary was busy living her life, doing what she knew to do, when God suddenly interrupted her.
☆ The vision will locate you. In the meantime, do what you know to do.
When He interrupted her life, the dots of her life revealed themselves to be ordained of God. It was not a coincidence that Mary was a virgin nor that she was engaged to a descendant of David. It was all very intentionally orchestrated by God. Mary HAD to be a virgin, so that there would never be a query as to the paternity of her son. Joseph had to be a descendant of David, for it was prophesied:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:1
☆ Your life is not a series of coincidences. If you look back and join the dots, you will realize that there is a script you are living out.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:30-33
The vision of God was revealed to Mary. As we have seen previously, the unveiling rarely includes the difficult parts of what consciously agreeing to the vision means:
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
John 19:25
The angel neglected to tell her that she would one day watch her promised son stripped, flogged, spat on, humiliated, falsely accused and crucified to death. Why? Because inspite of it all, the promise was that His kingdom will never end.A promise that would be fulfilled inspite of the pain and challenges that would be encountered along the way.
☆ God reveals to us His vision for our lives in various ways. For some, it may be dramatic à la Mary. For others, it will be a knowing of what to do at each step. For some, they may realize at their curtain fall that God was orchestrating their lives all along.
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Luke 1:34-37
☆ The vision of God may seem impossible. Guess what? It is – but by His Spirit. By yourself you cannot fulfil it, only He can.
The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me[…]
Psalm 138:8
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38
☆ God has gifted us with free will. When the vision for your life is revealed, I pray you will accept it.
Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord said to her will be accomplished!”
Luke 1:45
Your Turn:
Do you know God’s vision for your life?
If yes, have you accepted it?
If no, will you trust the Holy Spirit’s day to day guidance?