Advent 09 - reading five

Mary. A lot has been said about her, written about her. Sometimes its hard to see the woman for all the history.

A quick Google round the internet and you will see people say she was anything between 12 and 17 when she had Jesus. However old she was, she was young. God didn't wait until she had had a child so she knew what she was doing, he didn't even wait until she was officially married.

Which made things a little awkward for her and Joseph, to say the least. And yet the Bible says she was blessed:

Luke 1: 26–38

It all sounds so romantic doesn't it? But wait a minute - Mary not only has to figure out things with Joseph, but they both have to deal with the enormity that their first child actually belongs to God...

That they have both been chosen to raise God's son. They must have been so confused, frightened. There must have been times, in spite of Josephs love, in spite of Elizabeth's support, that Mary must have felt very alone. She was, after all in a unique position.

But here is where we can really learn from Mary:
She trusted God.
She accepted God's way, not any other way, for her life.

Sounds so simple doesn't it? But her life was never simple. It started with Joseph thinking she had been unfaithful (although God explained it all to him) and a mere 33 years later she watched her first born son die horribly. And there was a lot of ups and downs in between (see Luke 2:48-50 and Matthew 12 45-47 as examples)

And that's the thing.

We have complicated lives too. We might not be asked to carry God's Son into the world, but we all have trials, and God calls all of us to his service. We couldn't do better, than with prayer and hope in Jesus, trusting God as Mary did and accepting Gods way, not any other way for our lives...

Just as Mary did.

Questions: What are you struggling with in your life? In those situations, what do you think it might mean for you to trust God? To accept his way? Talk to Jesus about it...