Mary, mother of Jesus… A young girl, living a quiet life in a small town. Engaged, but unwed… Yet, pregnant. We know the story; we know all of it, standing on this side. We know why she’s pregnant and how she’s pregnant, but those living with her and around her at the time, didn’t. Oh, they thought they knew the story, but all they saw was the natural circumstances, and they were quick to draw their own conclusions and make their own judgments, something we all seem to do. It didn’t look like what we’d expect, did it? Certainly, a pregnancy out of wedlock wouldn’t be God… Or would it?
Mary and Joseph shunned by many, took one for the team. They lost a lot and had a whole lot of shame heaped on them by others. God was moving powerfully among them, but no one perceived it, except for Mary and Joseph. Why didn’t God just wait until after they were married? It would have been so much easier for them; perhaps they would have been able to keep their friends and their respect in the community. Perhaps Joseph would have been able to make a better living had he not been looked down on by others and gossiped about. I wonder, if you or I had been there, would we have made the same snap judgments or would we have been willing to see beyond our own understanding into God’s purposes? Would we have been confined to the standard religious form or would we have been open to hear God on this particular circumstance and couple?
God can’t be put in a box and he won’t be confined to our understanding. If we are not willing to be open to his movements in the earth at this time, we will certainly be offended and miss out on key relationships the Lord has for us. God is once again about to do some things he’s never done before and cause some people to break out of religious confinement. I would encourage you to be humble, to accept that you don’t actually know everything there is to know, seek the Lord, hear his voice and follow his lead, stop making assumptions and stop using your Bible as a weapon to discredit others, but use it to build up, encourage and love. If someone needs to be convicted of sin, the goodness of God will lead them to repentance through the Holy Spirit, not you. Position yourself now through obedience, as the Lord, not religion, leads, to be used of God, favored by him and blessed, advancing his Kingdom. We are called to please God as an audience of one, not to please people and their exhausting list of rules. I call you out and up now to put your brave on and to be courageous enough to be set apart for Christ, despising all other motivations aside from pleasing him.
In the midst of social scorning, Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” (Luke 1:46-48, NKJV) Mary knew in part what God was doing, that her discomfort was temporary and her purpose divine. May God bless all who will truly abandon their lives to Christ, pick up their cross and follow him with an undivided heart, no matter what it looks like.