Let it be Done to Me - Making Room for God’s Dreams

"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said,

'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' And Mary said to the angel,

'How will this be, since I am a virgin?' And the angel answered her,

'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.' And Mary said,

'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her."

Luke 1:26-38

There are like 17 different directions we could go with unpacking this passage, given all the current conversations at play; but we really wanted to let the Scripture speak for itself. We encourage you to go back and reflect on the passage above one more time before continuing.

We've noticed a popular misconception on the story of Mary taking social media by storm lately. People seem to be infatuated with the idea that Mary was raped by God. Actually reading the passage shows that Mary was clearly told of what will eventually happen, and the amazing part is that her heart said, "Let it be to me according to your word." People are completely missing the fact that: 1.) This was a supernatural event with the Holy Spirit, not a physical event; and 2.) This was a situation where Mary had an attitude of saying "yes" to God's will. For more on this discussion, we will direct you to an article that we thought was really well written: https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/let-it-be-marys-radical-declaration-of-consent/266616/ otherwise, this isn't the main idea of our blogpost.

It's super important to understand Mary's willing heart in this situation because right now we aren't aiming to talk about when people say "no" to God's dream for us; but rather, when people say "yes."

In a large majority of cultures in the world today, we plan everything–almost to a fault. When we will get married, when we will have kids, how many kids we will have, etc... Having such a scheduled and anticipated lifestyle leaves little room for surprise. Let's face it, we generally aren't open to surprises or life-detours. It's alluring to plan our lives according to what fits best for us. In attending a conference, I was faced with a "Detour Ahead" sign in my life. They asked something powerful that convicted me, “Is there room in your womb for God's dreams?” Whoah. I stopped and asked myself if I was open to following God's will even through the eggs in my womb. God did huge things in womens' lives in the Bible. Especially through pregnancy. He allowed Sarah to have a baby way past child-bearing years. He partnered with Mary in His will to conceive and birth God-in-the-flesh. Mary was at an age around 14 years old. He equipped those women to carry children that would fulfill a promise and change the narrative for humanity...for eternity. God has used obedience through human reproduction to bring about the entire story of the world; and most importantly, the story of redemption.

When I was pregnant with Eden, I ended up almost giving birth to her at 25 weeks. I ended up on bed rest and it was a very difficult time for me. Josiah and I were in a very rough spot in our marriage, and I didnt vocalize it to anyone. I was in a lonely state of depression. Being young and pregnant, it's easy to feel almost stuck. Which is hard... but the voices of the feminist movement were never a source of empowerment for me. What made me feel "empowered" was that God trusted me to raise my daughter, that I was strong enough to carry her in me for 9 months (throwing up and with headaches for most of it), that I gave birth to a 9.8 pound baby, and that I spend every day relying on God's strength because sleep isn't an option. You are capable, and you are able to be the best parent for your child because God chose YOU for that sweet baby and it wasn't a mistake. You might not feel that yet, but if God has called you to something, He will not abandon you half-way in the middle of it. If He partnered with you to create a soul and body inside your womb, He will give you the strength you need to raise it if you just call on Him.

We want you to know that we aren't saying to go out and get pregnant or to have lots of kids. But we want to present you with a challenge: If God asked you to get pregnant and/or have lots of kids, would you say yes? Is there room in your womb for God's dreams?

For everyone reading this, even those of you who might not be in a position for this specific scenario of pregnancy to take place: What is it that God might be asking you to do that seems too inconvenient, untimely, embarrassing, expensive, or challenging that you haven't yet said yes to? There might be a road of suffering, but that suffering will produce life. Your obedience to God is the fulfillment of His dreams for the world through your life. Mary gave up her reputation, her comfort, and her timing, for the Hope of mankind to be born through her. She said yes to God.

Jesus came before. He is coming again. This world is not our home. Lord, let your will be done in us. Help us to say yes to the story you are writing. Amen.