“He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name…” – Luke 1:49
Jesus, the words from this precious young woman who was Your mother motivate me this morning. She had not seen Your face, nor had Mary yet held Your little body. She had not yet been awestruck by Your wisdom, nor had she seen Your miracles come forth from fingers upon which she would You teach to count when you were a toddler. Mary had not yet wrestled through the paradox of her baby boy also being Israel’s Messiah. Your mother had not tasted Cana’s wine, nor had she yet tracked You down near the height of Your ministry to beg you to come back home to be with her and Your siblings. Jesus, she was just a teenager who found herself reeling under the weight of glory which came from Gabriel’s word to her, while simultaneously bearing the intense stigma from those who simply could not believe her story of supernatural impregnation.
Yet she knew that Your Father had performed something great, mighty and holy within her womb. Mary did not understand.
But she believed.
Help all of us who travel behind Mary to praise You in the midst of our times of not-understanding. Help us to sing from our soul as we also bend in our minds. Let us offer up handfuls of faith-filled proclamations even as we confess that we always live with a few looming questions. As Your mother did, Jesus, let us also not sacrifice all of our surely-knowns on the cold stone altar of our not-yet-knowns. Mary found refuge in Elizabeth’s house for three months. Your Word does not disclose much of what these two worshiping women discussed in those days as they both carried miracle babies on the inside. You reveal a scene of love, worship and praise upon Mary’s arrival that first day, but the full three months of her abiding with Elizabeth are not disclosed in detail. We trust that the Father ministered to these two women as their paths intersected, that the same Holy Spirit who brought wonder to Mary’s womb also brought hope to Elizabeth’s house. We righteously assume that there was much prayer, much praise and much pondering. All the while, my King, You were growing in Your mother’s womb. Divine perfection was experiencing human gestation, something never done before and never done since Mary conceived. Help us also to receive the seed of what the Holy Spirit is planting in our own lives. Our womb of faith needs the life of Heaven within. We need that empowering moment wherein the Holy Spirit comes upon us and something is born in our own human spirit. We want to carry a promise from You. Move strongly toward us today. Place something deeply within and let it attach itself to the wall of our faith-womb. Let it grown within. Let it receive the necessary nutrients. Let it leap within us as it grows.
And then let it be delivered in time.
Cause what You conceive in us to bring joy and life and power and hope to others when it is birthed. Let us hold it and cherish it and protect it and nurture it. And then, Jesus, let us release it back to You. Mary came to the place where she had to acknowledge that the thing which was given to her could not remain exclusively with her.
Help us turn loose of what You once let us hold for ourselves.
Grow our faith to recognize the timing of giving back to You what You have entrusted to us.
You know where we wrestle today. You know where our tight fingerprints rest. You know our clutchings and keepings. Help us to be like Your mother. Help us to treasure it all in our hearts… even as we must turn loose of it with our hands.
And, Jesus, as we release what You have once entrusted to us, let us be sure to hold on to our confident praise. Let us sing with Mary, “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name!”
Let us believe even when we cannot understand.
Thank you for these words. They are of comfort to me. I lost my Mother three weeks ago. I know she was never really mine to begin with. She was a child of God. God gave me 57 years with her and I am so thankful. He simply reclaimed what was his all along.
So sorry to just now be reading this, Tanya. I’ve taken some time off for the end of the year. I’ve just prayed for your heart as I imagine Christmas was not easy for you. May the Comforter do what only He can do – bringing the zking’s peace to your broken heart when nothing else and nobody else can help. Peace to you, sister.