Good morning, Lord Jesus. I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit in the silence of surrender, deep in the communion of prayer. …
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’” (Luke 1:30).
For several days now, Your Holy Spirit keeps drawing me back to this spiritual encounter between the angel Gabriel and Mary. I find myself wondering if this angel just showed up one day just out of the blue. And I’m sure that’s possible. You are the God who often does “awesome deeds we did not expect” (Isaiah 64:3). You are the sovereign Lord, ultimately holding all timing of all things in Your hands. And Your Word doesn’t really tell us anything in Mary’s life that may have led up to this life-changing, spiritual experience.
But I find myself wondering this morning about Mary’s prayer life. Was she a seeker? Was she a “God chaser?” Was she one who hungered and thirsted for more of You, more of Your Presence, more of Your love, more of Your power in every moment of her life? I find myself this morning with an image in my mind of a young woman with a very deep and passionate prayer life. I can almost hear her prayers: “O God, how long must my people continue to suffer? When will You fulfill Your Word and send Your Messiah, our Deliverer, our Savior? O Lord, how long must I wait to know my purpose in this world? When will Your fulfill Your Word to me that You know the plans You have for me—plans for my good and not my harm, plans for a future with hope, to fulfill this sense of destiny in my soul that I was created for more? I’m thankful for all You’ve done and all that You are in my life, but I want more—more of You, more of Your Presence, more of Your love, more of Your power—here in my life, here among my people, here in my land!”
Was Mary an intercessor? Was she a watchman on the wall of her city? Was she one who was often accused of being so heavenly minded that she was hardly any earthly good? Was she a passionate pursuer of the things of God? Was she created for destiny, yearning for destiny, being prepared in her spirit and heart for destiny, or did she just look up one day to find an angel standing in her bedroom to inform her that destiny was now thrust upon her?
I don’t know. I don’t know whether that day came unexpectedly and all of a sudden or whether that day was the next step in the course of her spiritual journey and the unfolding of Your plan for her life. But what I do know is that when that day came, Mary was “afraid” (v. 1:30). We better be careful what we ask for, what we pray for, because we might get it. We better be careful when we pray for visitations from angels, they might come. We better be careful when we ask to hear the word of the Lord for our lives, we might hear it. We better be careful when we say in our hearts we’d be willing to do anything , to go any place, to suffer any price—You might ask it of us. That might be the destiny we find thrust upon us.
But even when that day comes, and even if we are afraid at first, You will be there with us. You will be quick and ready to say, “Fear not. Do not be afraid. For I am with you. I will not send you where My grace will not sustain you. I will not call you to My purpose without supplying for you My provision. You’ve prepared the way of the Lord in your heart and I have prepared the way of the Lord in your life. Don’t be afraid. Don’t turn away. Don’t hold back. Just find the courage and faith in your heart by My grace to say, ‘Yes, Lord. Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word’ ” (v. 1:38).
So with Mary and with all those throughout the ages who have journeyed in faith and prayer, passionately pursuing Your purpose and plan for our lives, I say by Your grace, “Yes, Lord. Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word.” By the power of Your grace, I will not be afraid. By the power of Your grace, I will trust You and obey Your calling and destiny for my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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