issue 4

5th December 2005

Isaiah 9:6,7 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders and His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice…

Hers was a very small life. She knew little and had done even less. Barely emerged from puberty, she stood teetering on the brink between childhood and womanhood. The mysterious wonders of marriage and family lay before her – she could barely imagine it, yet she longed for the day when she would be a wife to Joseph.

And now this! What was she to think? The angel stood before her, brilliance emanating from him yet her eyes were not dazzled. It wasn’t his light that was overwhelming, but the words he said to her. What sort of greeting was this anyway…highly favoured? She was ordinary, average. Nothing about her stood out beyond the sameness she shared with her girlfriends. As pretty as some, as smart as some, as strong as some, but there were plenty who were prettier, smarter, stronger.

As the angel spoke his message, her hand flew involuntarily to her mouth. She could not have believed what was being said except for the overwhelming evidence of the messenger right there in her room. And she knew she had a decision to make. Despite how crazy it all seemed she knew the choice was real. She even knew she could say no and her life would go on as normal.

But what would life be like if she said yes to God? How would everything change? What would her parents say? What would Joseph say? What would the neighbours think? Saying yes to the plan of God would get her into trouble, but she would also know the amazing privilege of being used by Him…her name would go down in history, just like Esther and Rahab and Deborah.

As she stood bathed in the radiance of Gabriel’s light her heart was strangely still and her mind calm…she knew her decision was already made. There was no choice really, even though she understood what being favoured of God was going to mean in terms of cost to her life, her future, her reputation. It wouldn’t mean beauty or success or any of the things this world considers to be favour. Somehow she understood that it would mean her heart would be pierced with many sorrows…sorrows that would begin as soon as her pregnancy became obvious to the world around her. Folk would see and not understand that she’d made a decision to make room for God in her life.

And down through the ages people make that decision still…and yes, some understand and support, but many do not. Not everyone gets a visit from an angel, but everyone gets the opportunity to say yes to God. It may not be an immaculate conception, but when a person decides to allow God to take over their life, the Holy Spirit conceives God’s purposes in them in an amazing way…and though the costs are great, so is the satisfaction of having lived for a reason.

Being favoured of God is for life, not just for Christmas. It’s not always easy, it’s not always comfortable but saying yes to God is always the best choice a person could make.

As women who are in leading roles in the Body of Christ all across the nations of the world, we find ourselves in situations every day where we have to make the choice again. Sometimes it feels as though it would be so easy to just do what we feel like, take the easiest route, the road of least hassle. At time we just get so sick of the fight, and yet the purposes of God are not won by taking the line of least resistance. Each of us is growing in the knowledge of what it is to love and serve Him with our whole heart and life…and while we are learning that, we are also increasing in our understanding of what it will cost us to do that.

Is it worth that cost? You bet! The privilege of serving God with our lives may not end with everyone knowing our name, but it will mean that we have not lived for nothing. God’s purposes for our lives will come to pass and the world will be different because we said yes!

Have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and blessed 2006! God is on the throne and nothing is going to happen that He isn’t aware of. Trust Him and allow Him to use you to the fullest.

Love Bev