There is Just Something About Mary

Imagine this...you get to school/work one day and you see folks huddled up and whispering.
You just know there is a good piece of gossip. 
You begin to hear what is going around.  Mary, who is only 14, is pregnant.  It is not all that unusual to hear of a teenage girl getting pregnant, but this is different.  Mary is a good girl.  She doesn't seem to do anything wrong. 

But what really has people talking is that she claims to still be a virgin.  She claims that God got her pregnant. 

Would you believe her?  Would you just think she was crazy? 

What would you really think?

I often hear Christians say they think it would have been easier to believe and have faith if they were there when Jesus was alive. 
If they would have seen Jesus perform miracles, they would certainly have known he was the Son of God.
If they would have heard Jesus tell parables, they would not have been foolish enough to have a lack of faith like some of the disciples always did.
If they were a Pharisee and had seen what Jesus was doing, they surely would have changed their ways and not been so stuck on the past.

I've thought these things myself many times.  I've read through different parts of scripture and thought "how in the world could they be so blind, how could they be so stupid?".

It seems simple.  If we'd only have been around when Jesus was, things would have been easier.  Faith would be easier.  Living like Christ would be easier.

I just want to put out a word of caution.  Something I realized one day is that we know the rest of the story.  We see the end.  We know that Jesus is raised from the dead and that He offers us eternal life.  We know from the promises of scripture that Jesus IS the Son of God.  The disciples didn't have the rest of the story.  They didn't have the whole picture. 

Some parts of scripture are hard to swallow even when we know the rest of the story. 

The virgin birth is one of those stories for me. 
I must admit, if I had been present and heard Mary's story, I would have thought she was insane.  I would have thought she was just trying to cover up for sleeping with her "soon to be husband" too soon. 

Most people tend to believe that Mary was between 12-15 years of age.  Why would God choose someone so young to be responsible for birthing HIS Son?
Why would God entrust the Savior of the world to a teenager? 

What surprises me most in the story found in Luke 1, is Mary's response to the promise she was going to have God's Son...

"How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

Now, I don't know about you, but my question would have been more along the lines of...
"Are you crazy, you expect me to go out and tell people that I am pregnant and yet still a virgin?  You expect me to tell my future husband that I am pregnant, but I promise I didn't sleep with someone else?"

Now true, Mary was speaking to an Angel of the Lord, but still, she had to be scared out of her mind.
And yet, she was still faithful.  She responds to the Angel, "I am the Lord's servant, May your word to me be fulfilled".

So what do we have to learn from this story?  As crazy as the story is when you really think about it, what is God trying to teach us through this part of the Christmas story?
I think there are many lessons in this story, but two come to mind for me.
1. God is in control, so thankfully, we do not have to be
2. God can and will use anyone who is faithful.  Talent and other things the world expects us to have are not qualifications for being used by God, faithfulness is the only qualification. 

So my question to you is this: What may God be asking you to do that you have been afraid to be faithful in?
Age is not a factor to hold you back.  God continually shows in the bible that he uses people that are both too young and too old according to worldly standards.
Talent/gifts/education is not a factor - just look at the crew Jesus assembled to be his disciples and the folks God chose to build his church upon.  They were uneducated and untrained fisherman.
Your past mistakes are not a hindrance for God - just look at the lives of Paul and David.


Faithfulness is the only requirement.  What in your life have you been reluctant to be faithful to God with?
What has the Holy Spirit been nudging you to do to serve others?
What behaviors/habits has the Holy Spirit been nudging you to change?
What conversations has the Holy Spirit been nudging you to have with someone?


Are you going to look at yourself and make up reasons why you are not qualified to serve God?
Or are you going to be faithful to the Holy Spirit's calling in your life?