“I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word,” spoke Mary the 15 year old, ordinary girl, in the small town of Nazareth. “I am just a simple carpenter”, said Joseph the young man with the pregnant fiancee. Mary and Joseph were ordinary young people, yet this unlikely couple surrendered their dreams, their plans and their lives for every one of us. They chose to abandon their own plans and follow the plans of God.
Reading the Power of Christmas Prayer, by Stormie Omartian, I was recently prompted to think about how different it might be if God chose a teenager today as the mother of his son Jesus. In today’s times would a 15 year old be willing to be a servant of the Lord? What would the reactions of the family, boyfriend and society be to a 15 year-old, Starbucks drinking, mall hopping pregnant girl? Would her boyfriend dump her or marry her? Would her best friend take her to the free clinic for a quick abortion, or would she give her child up for adoption? Perhaps she would raise her baby Jesus as a single parent. She might put him in day care so she could work at a minimum wage job while she tried to finish school. These scenarios are as troubling as they are endless.
Like Mary and Joseph, we are all ordinary people, each with our unique God given gifts and talents. How willing are each of us to follow the plan God has for us? Would we have reacted in the same manner as Mary and Joseph? We pray to God asking him to help us and guide us with our decisions and our troubles, however, when we know the path God wants us to take, do we argue with him about it? Do we say, “Okay I’ll do this but I won’t do that”, or do we say, “I am a servant of the Lord”?
As children of God, we are given the choice to be obedient or disobedient to His word. Our hearts are revealed through our choices. In Romans 8:28 (NKJV), Paul writes, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Throughout the Bible you will find ordinary people who were stretched out of their comfort zones to follow God’s plan. Remember, Noah was a drunk, Abraham and Sarah were too old, Jacob was a liar, David had an affair and was a murderer, Joseph was abused, and Rahab was a prostitute. They all had anxiety, fear and tons of questions but they are significant in the Bible because by following God’s plan, their lives had eternal impact.
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