She Said “Yes”!

God calls us to do special things. He called Mary to do something very special – to be the mother of Jesus. In this post we will discuss Mary and her response to being favored by God.

In my last post, we discussed Favoritism and God. If you haven’t read that article yet, I encourage you to click on it now. When you are finished, you can close that tab and continue with this article.

Let’s explore why God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus and what her response was

First of all let me dispel the thought that God only picks perfect people to do his work here on earth. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There are SO many examples in the Bible of people God chose to use . . . and none of them were perfect, well, except one. Only. One. Person. And they killed him.

We don’t know for sure why God chose Mary other than he knew she would accept. Isn’t that what his criterion has always been? He uses people who will say yes when he asks.

The Bride-to-Be

As far as we know, Mary probably wasn’t a favored child in her family when she was growing up. But, she was a good Jewish girl, raised to know about and love God. She was just a normal girl, probably as normal as you or me.

So, on with the story.

Mary was in the house one day doing her regular chores . . . or perhaps dreaming of Joseph and their coming nuptials. He was everything she had hoped for in a husband for as long as she could remember. Every time she saw him, her heart fluttered. There were other girls in the village, girls who were prettier, more popular and maybe even smarter than her. And yet Joseph had chosen her. How could she be so lucky?

There were times she would wander through her house, touching items and wondering what type of home she and Joseph would share. Would she have a table like this? A lamp just like the one her mother lit every evening when the sun went down? Would she be a good wife? Would they have lots and lots of children? Would she be a good mother?

She knew Joseph was a strong, reliable man with a good vocation. He would take care of her and their family. They would grow old together and life would be . . . wonderful.

The Groom

Joseph had been careful to pick a young woman for his wife who was virtuous, but also one who loved the God of Israel. The more time he spent around her, the more he admired her. Her quiet dignity, so rare in one so young, was appealing to him. She wasn’t one of the gossiping young girls who met at the well, giggling and flirting with the boys her age. Admiration became love as he watched her quietly go about her chores.

No, he didn’t enter into this relationship lightly. He was a quiet, thoughtful man with a good, steady job as a carpenter. He would take care of Mary forever. He would build a good home for her and give her many children. She would be a wonderful mother. They would grow old together and life would be . . . wonderful.

Here’s . . . Gabriel!

Mary was startled out of her day-dreaming when she heard a noise and a voice. There was a bright light shining in the corner of the room. At first, she couldn’t see the man standing there because the light was so bright. When she finally saw him, her heart skipped a beat. Mary knew in an instant he was an angel, one of the messengers from the God of Israel. She had heard stories of angels appearing to God’s people before but had never seen one.

Now, before you skip over this part, let’s talk about Gabriel for just a moment. We’ve heard the story so many times . . . usually at Christmas . . . so it’s easy to read that he was there, spoke to Mary, then hurry on to the part about the baby and the manger. We all know the story, right?

But Gabriel had history, too. He was know as God’s divine messenger. He was also the guardian angel of Israel, defending the Jewish people against the angels of the other nations. That sounds rather formidable, doesn’t it? He wasn’t just a “messenger boy”, he was a warrior. To me, that sounds like he was a pretty big deal, and not just his mission, but also his size. He must have been larger than normal people, but most assuredly, his personality was “larger than life”.

“Fear not.” I think I get why those are usually the first words out of angels’ mouths. I would think they are pretty fierce looking. I’m fairly positive they aren’t cute, chubby cherubs flying around like we picture at Valentine’s time.

Okay, now that we set the stage with Gabriel and Mary, let’s get on with her story, shall we?

A Change in Plans for Mary

God sent an angel to ask Mary an important question – he asked her to be the mother of the Messiah.

Now . . . before you wonder if she knew what that meant, remember she was a young Jewish girl. She knew what God’s Word said about the coming Messiah. All Jewish maidens dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah, didn’t they? She must have been excited. We don’t really have anything in our culture that we can relate to Mary’s experience. Maybe it was like being told you were going to be the mother of the future President of the United States. Or maybe your child would be the next “Billy Graham” and be responsible for bringing millions into the kingdom of God. What an honor! What a responsibility!

In my mind, I think she was excited at this news. First of all, an angel had visited her – Mary – a “nobody”. Second, God knew her – personally. He knew everything about her and loved her enough to call her highly favored. Third, God had chosen her specifically to be the mother of the Messiah.

Who wouldn’t be excited?

Mission Impossible?

Have you seen the Mission Impossible movies? At the beginning of the movies, the main character is presented with a near-impossible job and the phrase “the mission, should you choose to accept it . . .”

With most of the crossroads of our lives, we have choices, don’t we? Sometimes we can pretty much guess what the outcome of our choices will look like. But sometimes we feel like there’s no way we can make this decision. There’s no way it can succeed. How could God ask us to do THAT??

Mary had a choice. She could accept what the angel said, what God was asking of her, or not. She could go ahead with her plans to marry Joseph or she could accept God’s near impossible mission.

I really don’t think she took this decision lightly; she definitely thought about it.

Could she have said, “NO”? Sure, she could have.

Each of us can say “no” when God asks us to do something. I have the sneaking suspicion we say “no” much more often than we say “yes”.

Not A Bed of Roses

I think we look at Mary from the perspective of two thousand plus years later and think we know her. But I have so many unanswered questions.

How much did she know? Did God show her everything just before she said “yes”? Did he show her that her son would only live thirty-three years? that he would be murdered on a cross – the heinous torture device used by the Romans? that he would die for the sins of the world – and hers? that he would walk on water and heal the blind?

I don’t think God showed her the future – just like he doesn’t show us the future now. If we knew what was going to happen in life, we wouldn’t need to walk by faith, would we? If Mary had known the future, she and the rest of her family would not have come to him at one point and asked him to come home. Everyone thought he must be insane and they were embarrassed. No. I don’t think she knew.

And let’s get real, here. What would be your first thoughts? What is this going to do to MY plans, right? How does this affect me?

Surely Mary wondered what this would mean for Joseph and her. She probably cried as she came to the conclusion there would be no “Joseph” in her future. He would never want her now, especially since he knew he was not the father. How would she raise a child on her own?

And the shame. For the rest of her life, the women would whisper behind her back when she went to the well to get water. Men would snicker as she passed by because they all knew she had gotten pregnant without being married. Her son would bear the stigma of having no father.

She Said “Yes”!!

But Mary’s faith was strong. She knew God had asked this of her. She also knew he would prepare a way for her to live and carry this child, to birth him, raise him and teach him about the one true God.

She said “yes”!

And because Mary was willing for God to use her, she became the mother of the Savior of the world. She, an imperfect, young Jewish girl became the vessel God used to bring his own Son life on earth.

Next Steps

This isn’t the end of the story. Perhaps we will continue this in another article. In the meantime, let me ask you a question. Has God asked you do something you felt was impossible? Did you tell him “no”? Was it because you didn’t feel you were qualified? Couldn’t figure out how you could possibly do this “thing”?

God uses imperfect people to accomplish his perfect plans. If God could use David (a murderer), Samson (an adulterer), the woman at the well (an adulteress), and so many others, could he use you? Yes. A thousand times, yes.

Like Mary, will you say “yes” when God asks you to do something that sounds impossible?

Maybe God has used you for some “larger than life” task you never thought you would be able to do. Or . . . maybe he uses you each day for small, seemingly insignificant tasks that just might mean the world to someone else.

Leave me a message and let me know if you have ever felt God asking you to do something. What was your answer?