by Lori Heagney, LPC
I have recently been reading a Christmas devotional from YouVersion (Joy! to Your World! A Countdown to Christmas) to help me stay focused on the true meaning of this season in the midst of the busyness that consumes me this time of year. The devotions have really roped me in and I have truly been blessed by the reminders written in these entries. I would like to share some of what has touched my heart in hopes that it will touch yours as well.
All of us are very familiar with the account of Jesus’ birth, but have you ever taken the time to think about the hearts of the characters involved in this great story? Let’s take a look at the lives of three of those characters now.
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had lived a life dedicated to the Lord. They were considered, “…righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” (Luke 1: 6, New American Standard Bible) Despite their devotion, God had not answered their prayers for children, and then one day He did! Can you imagine how amazed Elizabeth must have been to receive that news after waiting for so very long to be a mother! “’How kind the Lord is!’ she exclaimed. ‘He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.’” (Luke 1: 25, New Living Translation) I love that what the Word shares is the positive focus that Elizabeth had. She focused on how the Lord had answered her prayers, not how many decades it took him to do it or rather contemplating all of the negative possibilities that could have been running through her mind at the thought of having a baby interrupt her retirement years. Instead, Elizabeth focused on the miraculous!
Mary was going about her daily routine when one day she was greeted by the angel Gabriel with the salutation, “…Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” (Luke 1: 28) She was given the astounding announcement that she would be the mother of our Lord and Savior and after she recovered from her confusion about how this would happen, she responded with humility and submission. She said, “…I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1: 38) Mary accepted, without argument, the high price of God’s favor on her life; favor that would not come without a life of harsh words from strangers, and broken happiness for the “plan” she had for her own future with her groom to be.
Joseph and Mary had planned to be wed when their love story was interrupted by her unplanned pregnancy. Joseph simply couldn’t fathom Mary’s insistent pleas that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Instead of allowing her to be disgraced for her betrayal with another man (which is what he must have thought) he planned to break the engagement quietly and send her away. He must have been heartbroken beyond belief, but he was a righteous man and he chose to act in kindness vs. retaliation. As the story unfolds, “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1: 20-21) Again, we see another example of submission to the Lord, despite the high price that this must have cost to Joseph’s reputation.
Each of the three persons God chose to use in the greatest story of all time have something in common; each of them were “good people.” “Righteous” (Luke 1: 6) and “favored” (Luke 1: 28) where the words used to describe their character. They lived in obedience to God’s laws and walked in His ways, seeking only to do His will each day. Little did any of them know the high stakes that would be involved in submitting their lives to his plans, but they submitted blindly anyway. Each of them chose to allow God to interrupt their lives for His purpose to be established; for Christ to enter the world for all of us.
The author of this YouVersion devotional (Carol McLeod) said, “How wonderful to know that even when we are doing what we believe to be the highest good, God’s ways are still higher than our best intentions! Christmas is a time when heaven’s best interrupts our good.”
In this Christmas season, is there anything that you think God is asking you to submit to Him? Is there something He is asking you to trust blindly in Him for? Do you need to put aside your planning to make room for Him to move in your life? I was challenged by these stories to really examine my heart and ask myself, “Am I willing for my story to be interrupted for God’s purposes, no matter what the cost?” My prayer is that you will take the time to prepare your heart for what God wants to do in and through you. He wants to use us as much as he used Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary. Oh, what a privilege!
Lori Heagney, LPC
