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Humble Beginnings


It’s interesting to think about the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Not to be redundant or talk about something you already know, but Jesus was born to poor, uneducated parents who were insignificant in pretty much every way – EXCEPT for their devotion to God.

Mary and Joseph believed the angels who spoke to them, despite the bizarre messages these angels proclaimed. An angel said to Mary:

“You will be with child and give birth to a son… 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." Luke 1:31-33 Um, I’m sure that’s not what a young girl expected to hear… “You’re pregnant, your son will be praised, and He will reign forever.”

Joseph’s message from the angel was equally as peculiar. The angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife “because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20 Whoa. Try to imagine how you would receive that message if you had never heard of the virgin birth (I know, difficult since we have heard about this story since before we even knew what a virgin birth was!). Personally, I would think the angel was telling me the plot of a sci-fi movie, not the current realistic life experience of my fiancé.

Joseph and Mary’s responses to the angels’ odd proclamations were even more bizarre! They did not question these messages, inquire about God’s intentions or doubt His ability to fulfill these statements. According to the Bible, they accepted these messages as truth, calmly and humbly.

"’I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said,’" she responded to the angel in Luke 1:38. Wow. How I wish my heart was more like hers! I pray that regardless of my flesh WANTS to say in response to God’s words or calls to me, I would embrace His messages with faith and the willingness of Mary, obeying Him without questioning or doubting for a moment. I also wish that I had Mary’s humility. Clearly Mary was aware of her significance in relation to God’s; she, like us, was simply His instrument, designed to be used as He chose in ways that glorified Him. She didn’t begin to whine or ask about the logistics of this pregnancy, her role as the King’s mother or anything else that was to come.

From what we know, Mary and Joseph were not special in a worldly sense – the Bible leads us to believe that they were not wealthy, of high status or gifted in any extraordinary way. Whew. What a good reminder that I don’t have to prove anything in order to be loved or used by God. I don’t have to accomplish anything phenomenal, look a certain way, bring home a paycheck for a specific amount or be liked by anyone in particular to fulfill my role in God’s plan. He can and wants to use each one of us just as we are – simply one of the 6 billion people inhabiting the earth, largely unknown to the majority of the other 6 billion.

I am not trying to paint Mary and Joseph as super humans or worthy of praise; I am just thankful that God chose to include details so that we could see that they were ordinary people. We, like them, can be used in awesome ways by God and choose to respond with humility, willingness and obedience when He speaks to us.

“…for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.” Luke 1:49

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