Alone With God
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38, NIV)
Gabriel’s announcement to Mary was not a command. Ultimately, it was her decision whether or not to accept God’s will for her life. Mary’s response reveals the heart of someone whose life reflects the prayer her son would teach us to pray: “Your will be done, your kingdom come.”
Submission. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines, none has been more misunderstood than the Discipline of submission. We tend to associate submission with weakness. The truth is, it is a sign of tremendous inner strength. An inner strength that is nurtured and sustained by a passionate and relentless faith in God.
Most sincere followers of Jesus are eager for a deeper and more intimate relationship with their Lord. I know I am. But there is a price to be paid for that kind of relationship. Like Mary, we must be willing to accept God’s will for our lives, whatever it may be. And, like Mary, we must be willing to be misunderstood, rejected, and even ostracized by those who do not and cannot recognize God at work in our lives.
Most of us spend more time than we realize justifying our words or actions, our lifestyles, and our decisions. We spend a lot of time defending ourselves. But the truth is that to walk with God on the path He has chosen for us, we must, for the most part, walk it alone.
There is nothing to suggest Mary shared her angelic visitation with Joseph. She had to trust God to take care of that, and He did. Her three-month visit with Elizabeth (which we will look at next) was a source of encouragement to her, and I’m sure she found strength for the days ahead during that time. But in the end, she returned to Nazareth, and, apart from Joseph, there was no one who could even begin to understand her Divine calling and experience.
After Mary’s words of submission to Gabriel, we read these words - “Then the angel left her.”
The story ends with Mary alone. No one, not even Joseph, could ever fully understand or identify with Mary. But that was the price she paid to be, in her words, “the Lord’s servant.”
But I have no doubt that in her solitude, Mary experienced the fullness of God’s presence that comes to those willing to pray, “not my will but thy will be done.”
In Christ,
Dan
‘Tis the season to embrace God’s will for our lives.
Check out my podcasts from Church on the Edge and my books on Kindle.
You can listen to my weekly messages at Embrace Church, High Point.