HOW WILL YOU RESPOND TO GOD’S CALL FOR YOUR SERVICE?

SCRIPTURE:
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 
(Luke 2:19)

MEDITATION:
We can learn a lot from Mary, the mother of Jesus, can’t we?
Her life was dramatically changed when the angel Gabriel spoke to her.
Gabriel the angel had spoken to her.
As if hearing an angel speak wasn’t confusing enough, 
he told her that she was highly favored and the Lord was with her.

He goes on to tell her that she is highly favored by God 
and that she will conceive and give birth to a son.
He also gave her the name for her child (Jesus), 
and told her He would be great and would be called ‘Son of the Most High’.
Then he said that the Lord God would give Him the throne of His father David.
Imagine if you were Mary 
and had been overloaded with all of this information.

But it didn’t stop there.
Her son would reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, 
and His kingdom would never end.
Take a pause and think about how you would react 
if you were given all of this information.

But look at the calmness of Mary.
She sorted out all of this information and asked a very logical question,
“How will this be, since I am a virgin? (Luke 1:34)
We can see that even when she was overwhelmed, 
she paused, apparently relaxed, and thought in a logical manner.

Perhaps the angel sensed 
that she was adequately prepared for more information.
Gabriel told her that she would become pregnant 
because “the Holy Spirit will come on her” 
and “the power of the Most High will overshadow her”.
He tells her that her child would be the “holy one” 
and he would be called “the Son of God”.

Her relative Elizabeth was pregnant 
and would give birth to a child in her old age.
Even though she was said to be “unable to conceive”, 
she was six months pregnant.

Again, how would you respond to all of this information?
Mary responded as we should respond 
whenever the Lord chooses to take us out of our comfort zone.
She simply said, “I am the Lord’s servant”, 
and “may your word to me be fulfilled”.

Too often we have a tendency to rationalize 
and create reasons why we will not allow God’s work in us to be fulfilled.
Why? Because we do not like to be taken out of our comfort zones.
What happened to Mary when she yielded to God’s Will for her?

She became the mother of God’s Son, Jesus.
What was it like to be raising God’s Son?
We don’t know, but we have to assume that Mary’s life was blissful, and
she must have reflected often about her encounter with the angel, Gabriel.

Before Gabriel spoke to her, she may have been living a routine life 
of doing the things expected of a girl during that time.
But suddenly, God took her out of what may have been a boring rut 
and gave new life and meaning to her for the rest of her life.

Mary gave birth to Jesus and ‘treasured in her heart’ 
all the things that had happened to change her life.
Apparently she didn’t look back at the life she had 
prior to her encounter with the angel, but ‘pondered’ 
all of the good things that had happened since she yielded to God’s Will.

ACTION:
How do you react whenever you are busy with your own agenda
and discover that God wants you to go something in His plan?
You may feel that your plate is completely filled,
the demands on you are great, and you are stressed to the limit.
Maybe you think you don’t have time to stop,
take a pause, and listen when God is speaking to you.
Mary’s life was interrupted, but she listened and responded...correctly.

Faith was the driving force for Mary’s attitude and decision 
and it should be the same for every person who loves the Lord.
She didn’t know what her new life would be like, 
but she knew that she could trust God.

Mary did not have the luxury of seeing the results of her new life 
before choosing to yield to the Lord God.
Her decision was based solely on her faith and trust in God.

Should you be any different?
When God gives you an opportunity to express your faith and trust in Him,
don’t miss out on the blessings that He has in store for you.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to be prepared to express my faith and trust in
You whenever You want to use me. Forgive me for the missed opportunities
of my past. Teach me how to consider the things of the world and my own
will as lessor importance, whenever You call me to action, even when it 
means I will have to leave my comfort zone. Help me to consider it a 
privilege and not a chore to fulfill Your desires for me.”