Living Life Undaunted

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.” — Luke 1:46-49

I’ve always been deeply moved by Mary’s faith. Not only did she accept her divine assignment, she did it willingly with thanksgiving and praise. After Elizabeth blessed her, Mary began to declare the goodness and faithfulness of God. She did not accept her purpose begrudgingly but with passion and humility. She considered that to obey the call of God was an honor and not a burden.

She gave all the glory to God, proclaimed his goodness and faithfulness, and even declared, “From now on all generations will call me blessed.” It required great faith to make that statement in her condition. Remember, she was an unwed teenage girl and her reputation was at stake, but she chose to believe God despite the circumstances. She knew that he was worthy of her trust and so she entrusted her future to Him.

Once Mary had decided to pay the price to fulfill her calling, she was all in. She wholeheartedly trusted that God was who He said He was and that He would do all he had said He would do. Instead of waiting for a physical sign that she was pregnant, Mary prophesied her future when the promise was still in seed form inside her womb. And guess what?

On this Christmas Eve you and I are indeed calling Mary, the mother of Jesus, blessed.

There are so many lessons that we can learn from this amazing woman of God on this day before Christmas. She was relentlessly steadfast and kept her eyes unflinchingly fixed on the author of the Promise that she carried. She committed to enjoy and celebrate the journey and not merely endure this calling as a burdensome obligation. She surrounded herself with great faith-filled people and reminded herself of all the amazing things God had done for her people thus far. She knew that the same God who had been faithful to them would also be faithful to His Promise in her.

Let’s determine to be people of faith who expect to hear from God through His Word, who will not hesitate to say yes to our divine assignments when He gives them to us, and who will surround ourselves with people who inspire us to see the dream come to pass.

As we go forward, let’s never forget to give Him all the praise and honor that He is due and continually speak words of life that affirm the dream and the promise that we carry. Each word we speak either waters the seed or destroys it, so let’s speak life.

*** Excerpt from Living Life Undaunted by Christine Caine.