When Your Hopes Seem to Be on Hold
by Guest - - Holley Gerth
You have not been abandoned or forgotten. God is working, and when
you least expect it, in a way that you may hardly even recognize at first, He’s
going to fulfill all He promised.
You are His servant, and it will be to
you as He has said. No matter what.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have
found favor with God. You will conceive
and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; His
kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:30-33
With the Christmas season just past and a new year
beginning, the words above keep echoing in my mind. I’ve heard them since I was
a child — I imagine you may have too. But this time I heard something new. A whisper
of the hopes that must have been born in Mary’s heart that day. Because the angel didn’t say - -
Your joy will turn to sorrow before this story is done.
Your son will be misunderstood by most and rejected by many.
He will be crucified right before your eyes.
Your joy will turn to sorrow before this story is done.
Your son will be misunderstood by most and rejected by many.
He will be crucified right before your eyes.
No, the
angel said . . .
“He will
be great.”
“He will
be given a throne.”
“He will
reign and His kingdom will never end.”
I don’t know
what was going through Mary’s mind as Jesus’ life unfolded, but I can imagine
what may have filled her heart at times: Confusion, questioning, wondering
if she heard God wrong.
Have you
ever felt that way? Maybe you even do today?
Then here’s
the hope Mary gives us: Just because what
God has said to us doesn’t look the way we pictured doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Jesus is
great.
He does
have a throne.
He is
reigning over a Kingdom that will never end.
It just
didn’t happen the way Mary probably expected. What got her through?
I imagine
Mary kept praying that same prayer she did when the angel first spoke to her: “I
am the Lord’s servant. May Your word to me be fulfilled” {Luke 1:38}. Perhaps she softly spoke it as she leaned over a
manger. Maybe she uttered it every time she overheard rumors and gossip about
Jesus as she stood in the local market. I wonder if she offered it as a cry of
grief and surrender at the foot of the cross.
It is
the one prayer we must never stop praying on the road to our hopes and dreams.
Because the
moment we refuse to say it is when we have made what we want about us.
The moment when we have stepped into God’s place and demanded that things turn
out the way we thought they would. The moment when we can lose faith because
what we were really trusting in was our own expectations.
Say that
prayer, sister/brother
Say it on
your knees in desperation with tears streaming down your face. Shout it at the
top of your anger-filled lungs. Whisper it with the last bit of strength you
have left. Because God is faithful, and what He has spoken will come
true. Not the way we pictured. Not the way
we planned. Not the way we would prefer. But it will happen {Isaiah . 55:11,
2 Cor. 1:20}.
You have not
been abandoned or forgotten. God is working, and when you least expect it, in a
way that you may hardly even recognize at first, He’s going to fulfill all He
promised.
You are
His servant, and it will be to you as He has said. No matter what.
4 comments:
Thanks my friend for this uplifting and encouraging post. A good reminder everyday.
Amen! Praise God!
What a wonderful message.
I've often thought about what Mary must have thought and/or felt as Christ's mother. This prayer really added value to the things God has been speaking to me about being a Godly mom.
Thank you.
I know the Lord is busy on my case. And when he is done I will put on my dancing shoes and hold up my timbrels. God Bless Holley.
http://purposefulandmeaningful.blogspot.com/
Good Word, sister! You nailed it when you stated that we take over the place of God on our own behalf's. Not so different than the original sin is it?
The flesh is indeed weak… Thanks for the reminder of Who our strength is and how to find the true peace that comes from within and that only He can supply.
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