When God asks me to trust Him

11/12/2015 17:50

 

Some years ago, an unforeseen windfall turned up in my mail box. I opened what I thought was yet another bill but found instead a cheque for 21 dollars. That  doesn’t sound much, does it—a wee drop in the ocean? But because it was unexpected, I felt rich. The Uniform shop of my son’s high school had just sold on of his shirts—FIVE years after he'd left. It was like slipping your hand into your jacket pocket and discovering a 20 dollar bill you didn't know existed. But even better. Time for celebration!

 

In a few weeks, you and I will be kneeling at the foot of the manger, in awe and wonder, worshipping the Saviour of the world. God’s plans for that precious little baby took 33 years to reach fulfillment. Our Lord Jesus grew up to experience terrible suffering and heartache, abandonment by those close to Him, being taunted by people He had created, enduring a cruel death on a cross before the Father’s purposes unfolded and His Kingdom was revealed. It wasn’t an easy road that He travelled.

And what about Mary, His mother? We can sugar coat it now, because we know what history has proclaimed to us. But make no mistake—hers was no trouble-free life either. Would you have believed her when she told you she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit? Would I? I wonder what that unplanned pregnancy cost Mary? And then … after Jesus was born, it became even more difficult. Mary and Joseph were forced to flee in haste to Egypt with their new born. King Herod was killing all the babies in the land, as he tried in vain to get rid of baby Jesus. What terror must have struck Mary’s doting mother heart!

 

The promises given virgin Mary by the Angel are easier for us to believe now, many centuries after those scriptures were fulfilled, than it was for her then. Christian scholars speculate that Mary must have been around 16 years old when she had her baby. I marvel at her maturity. She was very young—but she’d cultivated the kind of heart God looked for, to house the Lord of the Universe. Pure, humble, trusting, willing to be used by God in any way that He chose. Her chief desire was to please God.

Mary’s words in the Magnificat ring clear, sweet, melodious.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on, generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.’ Luke 1: 46-49
 

Mary would not have had a clue as to what God would accomplish through her little boy. But she surrendered fully to all God asked of her. She knew God and trusted Him. There are occasions when God's ways are hard to understand and He asks me to simply wait on Him. Being still before Him in patience is rarely easy. But His waiting room is a soft cocoon, one where He nurtures me, teaches me and grows me. A safe place where he aligns my hearts desires and dreams to His glorious plans and purposes. Mary burst into a song of praise because she believed God’s promises as if they had already been fulfilled. Dare we also trust God in the same way? Shall we then join with her? Let us sing songs of joy and adoration to our mighty God as we wait in hope and expectation for the fulfillment of His promises to us, in His way and in His time.

 

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” 

Psalm 27:13,14

"Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." Luke 2:78,79