Remember that time I was reading a scripture about waiting
on the Lord while on stage at our first Advent service this past Sunday in
front of hundreds of people and it didn’t hit me until exactly THAT moment that
this season of waiting was so unbelievably powerful for me that I started
crying and could barely even finish the sentence? Ahh yes. Just another typical
“Maggie has no emotional control whatsoever” moment. Surely that’s a scientific
symptom of adoption, right? I recently described it to someone like this – If
at any regular moment in life your emotional state is at a 5, I basically start
crying if it jumps anywhere above a 6 or below a 4. Happy about red holiday
cups returning to Starbucks? I cry. Sad that my favorite character died on
Walking Dead? Instant tears. Excited that my husband put Christmas lights on
our house? Hot mess. I’m basically a ticking emotional time
bomb.
I digress.
I’ve never taken Advent that seriously until this year. I
think it’s because I never really had a grasp on waiting until this year. Yes,
I’ve waited for an upcoming vacation, and I’ve waited for holidays, and I’ve
waited for my food at a restaurant before (but let’s be real, this is why I go
to Chick-fil-a. Seriously, do they have ninjas working in the kitchen or what?
My food is ready before I even get my ketchup), but never in a way like this.
The uncertainty of the future does not do well for my gotta-have-a-plan mind,
but the beauty of what God is teaching me through it cannot be overlooked.
I was recently reading through Luke 1 and saw something that
I’ve passed over multiple times before. In this chapter, Luke is telling of the
pregnancies of Mary and Elizabeth and their time together before each of their
babies were born. Elizabeth is welcoming Mary into her home and says the
following statement,
“Blessed is she who
believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
This hit me like a ton of bricks. Elizabeth doesn’t say
“blessed is she who has already seen the
fulfillment and because of that trusts that God knew what He was doing.”
No. She says, “blessed is she who believed.”
Mary has no clue what the heck God is doing right now. She doesn’t understand
the plan. She doesn’t know what this whole thing is going to play out to be.
BUT she knew what God had spoken to her, and she trusted Him based on His word.
As a Jew, she was told there would be a Messiah.
As a pregnant teenager, she was told there would be a baby
that makes the difficult journey worth it.
As a daughter of the King, she was told there would be
redemption.
She didn’t demand proof. She didn’t ask to see the plan laid
out in front of her. She simply said, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
Whatever you’re waiting for this Advent season, remember
this:
The Lord has spoken. He promises hope. He promises peace. He
promises joy. He promises love.
Blessed is she who believes there will be a fulfillment of
what was spoken to her from the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment