the other day i stopped during the craziness of the holiday season and thought about what christmas really is and means. so this is what we celebrate on the 25th of every december; a young girl going against the norm of society and culture, her boyfriend learning what it means to truly trust someone else, a baby being born in poverty and then this young vulnerable family running from the leader of the country who wants to kill their child. and as we all know, all this happened so this said baby could die some 30 years later to save the souls of millions he would never meet on this earth. i mean think about this, not just read the words and say ‘yeah, yeah, i know the story i have heard it 1,000 times i know how it goes.’ , truly think about it. think about being mary and the courage it took for her to say yes, think of what it would of been like to be joseph, your girlfriend comes to you saying ‘i’m pregnant’ and the courage it took for him to say yes to that situation, and then think of the both of them having to literally run for their newborn baby’s life to a strange country. so to sum this up in today’s world this is what happened, you woke up from a dream pregnant, your boyfriend decides he will marry you so society doesn’t shun you, obama wants to kill your child so kills every baby in your city under the age of 2, so you run to cuba (or some other country) until obama dies, your child grows up, is hated by millions and ultimately is killed so strangers from the future can live. all of this happens without question or complaining.
i mean lets stop for a moment and think about what dedication that is! what a loving and trusting relationship you must have to have with our loving God to just accept all of this as truth. not just accept this as truth but live it out and obey God. i mean sometimes i am annoyed with people at work and i can’t someday’s even give into my human stubbornness and lift that up to God to take care of, let alone God telling me that i am pregnant with the Holy Spirit’s baby! just thinking about mary and joseph what they endured, how they loved, trusted and lived and i determined this is the kind of relationship i want to have with God.
how great would it be to have no worries, anxiety, fear or trust issues? think of how much time during the day when we stress, worry or get anxious. quick question; how many things are you fearful of in this world? i don’t know about you but for me there are so many. in Bible study the last week i had to list out all of my fears and the paper wasn’t big enough, from not being accepted by people, to my fear of flying to letting God down and everything else in between. there are a lot. but the reality of being a christian and having a personal relationship with God is we don’t have to be concerned with any of that stuff. God put us each here for a specific and unique purpose, just like mary and joseph. we won’t make it into a book of the Bible, but each one of us will leave a mark in history. but only if we lift up our problems and concerns to God, just listen and obey Him. sounds so easy(and if your anything like me scary), and if someone in this world knows it is not easy it is me, but when we do this, we gain the world. our God protects us, loves us, cares for us, is jealous for us, directs us and ultimately forgives us no matter what.
the dedication and submission of mary and joseph to God is just so amazing to me! i am in awe of their love, devotion and dedication to God. someday i hope that i can honestly say that i am that dedicated. that if an angel comes to me in a dream and shares with me some crazy request that i could never even comprehend, i will simply say yes, because it is from God. and if it is from God then it is good. because our God is good. and that one simple request in a dream could change the world if i just say yes.
thank you mary, thank you joseph, thank you jesus and mostly thank you God. thank you for saying yes. thank you for creating this amazing love and dedication. thank you for showing me what trusting can mean. i have grown so much in just reading about your lives (which i am sure you never thought would make it in the Bible and make history) and i pray that i continue to grow daily to become closer to God.
the truth of my life 