News to a teenager broke 400 years of silence. And in so doing, broke every cultural norm and expectation. She was unmarried, yet pregnant. He was a baby born into the most common of circumstances yet was the Savior of mankind. The audience welcoming Him was lowly, dirty, and uneducated, hardly who would have gathered if the world truly believed in that moment they were welcoming the long-awaited Messiah.
When God broke his silence, it wasn’t even close to what anyone expected. And for the teenager in the middle, it was life changing – and potentially life-wrecking. This good news would bring shame on her family – and unwed pregnant woman, after all, was a life experience from which a woman in that time would never recover. This good news was confusing, nothing like what they’d been taught to expect, and at first only a teenager and an angel were in the loop.
When most would have crumbled in shame and fear, come up with some story that made more sense in human minds, resisted or at least cried out in anger to God for creating so much difficulty for her life, that teenager saw redemption coming in the most unexpected way. She trusted in the God who had been silent for so long, but Who was clearly speaking to her now. And she rejoiced in the role she would play in the long-awaited redemption for God’s people.
God redeems. Always. Unexpectedly. Confusingly. Beautifully. And rarely in the way we’d plan it. But He does. And it works. And in doing it His way – the best way – He speaks and moves and works on our behalf.
This Christmas, I’m praying for the heart like that teenager’s. One that will receive news joyfully and with open hands – even when that news feels far from anything I’d want or that makes sense or that seems desirable. Because God is working – in all of us – to redeem every hurt, every relationship in need of mending. Every wound our human minds tell us will never heal. He’s working.
So, make us willing, Lord. And help us rejoice in accepting Your favor – in whatever form that favor takes.
This really touched me, Jennifer! I love your gift and the way your perspective brings to light our need to rejoice in His favor, whatever form it takes. I will definitely be carrying these words into the New Year, thank you for sharing!:
God redeems. Always. Unexpectedly. Confusingly. Beautifully. And rarely in the way we’d plan it. But he does. And it works. And in doing it his way – the right way – he speaks and moves and works on our behalf.
Thanks so much, Misty. So thankful that he’s in the business of redemption and his track record demonstrates his expertise.
Happy new year!