During this holiday season you’ll be able to spot a lot of Nativity scenes all over. I remember my mom always putting up a Nativity scene when I was growing up and now that “tradition” has passed down to my wife and I setting up one every year. But anywhere you go, especially in front of churches, you’ll see the wise men, the shepherds, and of course Mary and Joseph, all of them looking down at baby Jesus the reason we celebrate Christmas. I wanted to take this moment to focus on one character specifically, though.
I have always been fascinated with the life of Mary. Just to give you a little background on Mary, she was a teenager and a Jewish girl who believed in a coming Messiah to be the savior of the world. She was also engaged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of King David. She was just your average Jane living in the small, non-important town of Nazareth. But for Mary her life was not going to be so ordinary anymore. She was about to step into an unknown.
If you have never heard the Christmas song “Mary Did You Know” it’s a powerful song asking Mary over and over about the things that her baby boy Jesus was to be. It’s kind of comical to me because in the song she’s asked if she knew Jesus would walk on water, heal a blind man, or calm a storm. Of course she wouldn’t know that! Mary isn’t the all knowing one, the one she’s birthing is the all knowing one! Anyway I digress. I chose this song to focus on because regardless of what Mary did or did not know, she knew the promises of God. Since Mary knew the promises of God she’s able to stand in faith through the unknown she was about to step in. I believe the same for us. Despite the unknown we might be experiencing right now or haven’t even faced yet, we can stand in faith because of the promises of God over our lives.
Our story picks up in Luke 1:26. Rather than giving you all the scripture I’ll just sum it up for you. An angel named Gabriel came to Mary one day and basically told her, “Hey! Surprise! God sees you as highly favored and you’re going to be bringing the promised savior of the world into the earth. You don’t know what to call him? You can call him Jesus. Oh you’re still a virgin? Don’t worry we’ll take care of that, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you’ll become pregnant. By the way your aunt Elizabeth who is super old is pregnant too. Ain’t nothing is impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Cool, I’m in.” Alright so that’s not exactly what it says but if you want to go look it up yourself, I encourage you to do so, but you got the gist.
What’s crazy here is that Mary said yes right away. She didn’t say I need to think about it or anything. I’m amazed by this because during this time if Mary was found pregnant while still being engaged then she could be risking her life. Even if she didn’t die she would dishonor her name, her family’s name, and even Joseph’s name. Mary definitely knew this would happen. So why did she say yes? I believe it’s because she knew the promises of God.
There are two references worth bringing up. Gabriel, the angel, mentions that Jesus was going to be the Son of the highest and reign as King of Israel to which there would be no end in verses 32-33. If you look at Daniel 7:13-14 it talks about this, scripture that Mary should have known considering she was Jewish. It says, “As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.”
Secondly, Mary in Luke 1:55 sings a song and makes this statement, “Keeping his promises to Abraham and his descendants forever.” This points all the way back to the first book of the Bible in Genesis 22:18 when God told Abraham, “And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” So this means that Mary actually did know some things. Even though she knew how saying yes to this angel to bring Jesus into the world would affect her, she knew the promises of God that this baby needed to be born and so she was able to stand in faith.
Like Mary, we should be able to stand in faith because of the promises of God over our lives. Mary had no idea this would happen to her. This was unknown to her, but she didn’t let this affect her. I love how Gabriel says it to Mary in Luke 1:37 in The Passion Translation, “Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God!” Any unknown that we are faced with is not as powerful as the promises God has declared.
There are a lot of unknowns during this holiday season. What’s the weather going to be like? Are there going to be any fights or unnecessary debates on Christmas day with the relatives? Is the food going to be ready on time?! But even more than the holidays, life never promises to always be happy, successful and healthy. An unknown you might be going through is trying to figure out what to do next in life. Maybe it’s dealing with financial issues. Maybe you or a loved one is sick or addicted to drugs. Or you could be wondering if your parents are going to make it. The list can go on and on. What happens though is that all these unknowns can distract us from what God has promised us. But like Mary we must not let it distract us but rather stand in faith. God wants to walk with you through whatever unknown you are facing, but he also wants to remind you of his promises over your life.
Maybe you are reading this and you would say that God hasn’t promised you anything. Well I would disagree with you. All over the Bible there are many promises for everyone, but let me lay out some here for you:
- Deuteronomy 31:8 – He promises to be with us and not leave or forsake us
- Psalm 23:4 – He promises to stay close, protect and comfort us
- Proverbs 3:5-6 – He promises to guide us in our path when we submit to him
- Isaiah 41:10 – He promises to strengthen and help us in our time of need
- Isaiah 54:10 – He promises to never break his covenant of blessing over us
- Isaiah 54:17 – He promises that any weapon formed against us will not succeed and that any voice that comes against us will be silenced
- John 8:12 – He promises that if we follow Him we will walk in the light that leads to life and not darkness
- John 8:36 – He promises that we are free because He has set us free
- Romans 8:28 – He promises to work everything for our good
- Philippians 1:6 – He promises to complete the work that He has begun in us
- Philippians 4:19 – He promises to supply all of our needs
- Romans 8:38 – He promises us that nothing can separate us from His love, not death, life, angels, demons, our fears and worries, or even the powers of hell
So we find out that Mary did know some things. She knew what God had promised. This holiday season, get to know these promises and remember them anytime an unknown tries to distract you or keep you from standing in faith. Let these promises overpower the unknowns, even if the only unknown you face Christmas day is not knowing when you’ll eat.