Servant of the Lord...Mother to the Son

Luke 1:26-38 " In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!"

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

"The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. ~NIV

I made the statement when Jake decided to join the Army over going to college that we raise our children to be independent and then they go off and do it! It has definitely been a process and caused a lot of reflection. I was so worried that I had not done enough to prepare him to be an adult so soon.

Several people we know and know of are going through the adoption process and it reminded me of the interview process we had to go through to adopt Jake. We had to submit financial records, and have a home study where our house was thoroughly inspected, and all three of us...Jimmy, ten year old Richard, and I were questioned. Then we waited, and waited...and waited some more for the report and approval. It truly was a joyous occasion when we received the approval but the lifestyle we had become accustomed to was about to change. No longer would we sleep in...or sleep all night long... for a long time!

Then I thought of Mary, the mother of Jesus...while we had hoped and prayed for a child, her child was a total surprise...an unplanned pregnancy of a Divine nature...and all her plans, dreams, and way of life were about to be turned upside down!

We thought our process was thorough! Her approval was not up to some randomly assigned social worker of the state...her approval was up to the Lord God, the Most High! While we know without a shadow of a doubt that God was in the adoption of our son....what must have gone through her mind when she found out she was to be the mother of the Son of God?

Knowing that she would be in BIG trouble turning up "with child" when she was a virgin was a tough enough challenge...but to be responsible for raising the Savior of the World! I wonder which weighed on her mind most? Still her response was "I am the Lord's servant...may it be to me as you have said." Personally I think I would be more afraid of making a mistake while raising Him than what my betrothed, my family, and the community would do when they found out.

I have never known a stronger love than the love I have experienced as a mother...I never knew that kind of love even existed until I looked into the face of Richard just moments after his birth! I had no idea what to do let alone who he would become...I don't know if I even thought that far ahead on that frosty October evening. Yet she knew...didn't she? She may not have known all the details at the time...but she knew what He had come to do.

Then I think again of the "watching my son turn into a man, letting go" process I have recently been through with my baby...the telling myself and God, "He is Yours, Lord...He is in Your hands." How much more faith did Mary have to have? How much more did she have to trust the Lord and remind herself that our children are really only ours for a short time?

It would be easier raising our children if there were a tried and true book of instructions...but we are supposed to train them up in the way they are to go...when we really don't know the way they are to go....who they will be...what mission God has for them...but she knew her son definitely had a mission of the highest order!

Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

As we enter the countdown to Christmas day, I pray we take a moment to realize He is the Son of God, the Savior of the World...and as we celebrate His birth...we take a moment to remember this woman used as a vessel to fulfill the prophesies...this Mary, mother of God...

That our lives reflect and demonstrate the kind of love and faith she must have had. And when we are called upon to be used by God we readily answer...I am the Lord's servant may it be to me as you have said.