Chosen and Carried

Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash

Be Born in Me 

by Francesca Battistelli

And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees.

The only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy

When God spoke to me I wanted to give up everything and I did. But then the angel left and I was alone with the fact that I was going to have a child but I was only betrothed. I wanted to hide. I knew it was God calling me to this, but my reputation was going to be ruined forever. What if Joseph would not marry me? I know I was chosen out of all these people, but what if I couldn’t do it? But God choose me and I will carry His plan  though, I will be strong in my faith and believe He is carrying me and this child.

These had to be some of the thoughts pounding through Mary’s head many times a day. As I wrote that, it gave me great awe of her. If God told me that I was going to have a baby when I was unmarried in a culture where that was looked down on, I would probably be a lot madder at God, and even doubt if this was truly His plan. But we see in the Bible that she turned to praise almost instantly. 

“And Mary said: 

My soul glorifies the Lord

    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

    of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

    for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

    Holy is his name.” — Luke 1:46-49

Her soul glorifies God. That is a strong statement. Through the whole song Born in Me, you see her story, just like in the Bible. At first she is scared but the angel tells her not to be afraid (see Luke 1:30). Then she visits Elizabeth her cousin to seek her council. And God gave Elizabeth the spirit that made her child leap, confirming that it was truly the son of God that Mary carried (see Luke 1:39-45). Mary had confirmation that this was the child. And in the next verse we read her praising God. 

In the song some of the first words are, And before my head agrees, my heart is on it's knees. How often do we surrender it all before we understand, before we have all the answers? That is a hard thing to do. It is never going to be easy but as a Christian that is a picture of faith. Before we understand why, our hearts are on their knees saying, “God I will serve you, and trust you.” 

Mary gave up a lot. But most importantly she gave up herself. Her reputation was permanently hurt. But she did it for God. He was more important to her than anything else. Is God more important to you than your reputation? Are you willing to let Jesus work in you? I challenge you this Christmas to do something outside of your comfort zone that is going to bless someone else. Maybe that is giving cookies to your neighbor or serving at church. Do something without worrying about what others will think. We are all chosen by God and he will carry us through the big and the small of his plan. 

"But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” —Luke 1:30

Small note for the author! 

Merry Christmas! This post goes live in Christmas Eve so I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day with family and fiends. This is the end of the 2019 Christmas series I will be taking a break next week and then will be back on to my normal every other week posting schedule. So I will be back here on the January 7th. In the mean time if you want a good book about Mary Unafraid by Francine Rivers is a wonderful book. Also if you want to hear from me sooner, then you can join my newsletter for more personal contact with me and you will get to know more about my writing. Thank you for spending time reading my blog! 

Juliet Artman