“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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 favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at
his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 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.” “How will this be,” Mary
asked the angel…..” Luke 1:26-34
God’s will
presents you with two difficulties:
1)
Discerning it, and:
2) Doing
it after you have discerned it
God’s will was to have a Son and save the
world.
Mary’s desire was to have her wedding.
You will see God’s will one of two ways,
either as a problem or as a possibility. One of the things that made Mary
exceptional is that she embraced the possibilities of the angel’s announcement
once it was presented to her.
Now, granted, having an angel announce God’s
will makes it much easier to discern! I can honestly say an angel has never
appeared to me to reveal His will.
Even though God’s will was clearly presented
to her and she knew the problems it would create for her and for Joseph she
didn’t back away from submitting to His will.
One of the reasons God was able to accomplish
a wonderful world-charging plan through Mary is because she chose to focus on
the possibilities rather than the problems.
How did she do that?
Why did she do that?
The answer to both of those questions is the
same: she loved God’s will more than she loved her own wedding plan. She didn’t
deny the potential problems or discount them she just valued the God’s plan
above her own pain. She valued God’s purpose more than her own peace of mind.
She believed the power of God that would accomplish His purpose could also
bring her through the problems associated with it. Mary chose to focus on the possibilities
of God’s will because she was convinced of His power, she was called to His
purpose and she was committed to His plan.
She surrendered her wedding but she saved her
world.
Mary chose the possibilities of God’s will
despite the problems it caused her. She understood that the biggest problem
would have been to deny God’s will and disobey Him.
This lesson of Christmas is clear:
God’s will is more rewarding that your will.
God’s plan is more righteous that your plan.
God’s purpose is more redemptive than your
purpose
God’s power is a resource sufficient for your
problems.
And, God’s possibilities are released through
your obedience.