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Archive: December 2010
Bible things...
Archive: December 2010
Trusting in God's plan
By Nathalie Saunders
Mary was said to be 14 when she had Jesus, and I bet she already had a plan for her life before God came and changed it up. But instead of questioning God, Mary said:
‘“I am the Lord’s servant….. May your word to me be fulfilled.”’ (Luke 1:38 NIV).
That’s a fairly strange response to an angel saying: ‘you’re going to have a baby at 14, even though you’re a virgin. Oh and by the way, it’s God’s son!’
If I was Mary, I would put up a fight. Fourteen is not the age to have a kid, and the Messiah? That’s a whole heap of crazy responsibilities, on top of the already obvious ones!
But the only question Mary had was: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Not what does this mean for the rest of my life? How will I cope? Or even why me? She just accepted it; Mary must have had a special kind of courage.
I find this inspiring as I struggle to just accept things and one of the toughest things I find about being a Christian is, well…having faith. Accepting things when you don’t know it all.
All Mary was told was that she was going to have God’s son. The angel didn’t give her a written essay from God explaining her role in his big plan; just a simple fact, that she had to trust.
Throughout my journey as a Christian I have found that God gives me a small idea, or puts something on my heart, but it’s the basics and I either have to trust it or try and run away from it (which is harder than it sounds!) It can be such a huge leap of faith to just accept something and go with it and that can mean anything: a calling; a relationship. or an opportunity.
Before I became a Christian the idea of taking risks, or putting myself out there, scared the life out of me, but God has been challenging me to do it anyway. Last September I was wondering what to do for my school work experience and thought about writing to some magazines or newspapers to try and do something in journalism.
God had other plans. Instead I found myself emailing someone and asking to work with their worship team. At the time I didn’t feel particularly called to the church, I just felt God prompting me to ask and it was scary! What if they said ‘no’? I didn’t know why God had put it on my heart, and I hated the fact that I put myself out there. I didn’t know the plan and I wanted every step marked out for me to see. But I wasn’t getting that so I had to trust God and I’m so glad I did.
That work experience helped spur the fire in my heart for worship and the church. I had an amazing time and met some awesome people, and I know now I want to work in a church, not be a journalist. I took a risk, I acted on what God prompted me to do, and it paid off. I just wish I’d been a bit more like Mary and not spent so much time questioning God in the process!
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Mary was thinking, and I really wish I could ask her! Did she worry at all? Did she want to know why God chose her? Did she want to know every step like I do? I wonder if at night she would lie in bed with a million thoughts running through her head about what was happening.
What the Bible does tell us is ‘Mary’s song’ which was:
“From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me” (Luke NIV)
She rejoiced and sang to God. What a response! She was so thankful and there was no questioning. She knew that she was blessed.
I often find it so hard to trust God and his plan. Instead of rejoicing, I challenge it and then only in hindsight can I see what God was up to. But that’s it: hindsight. You never know what God has planned, and you can question things all you like, but sometimes you need to just accept it.
God has something amazing in store for every single one of us and sometimes that means: taking a step of faith and accepting something from God without knowing all the details; stepping outside of your comfort zone and being like Mary. She was brave, trusting, faithful and she loved God. I want to be like that. I pray that Mary will be a great example to us all. She was someone who really trusted and lived for God and as children of God we can do the same. He’s always there looking after us, he sent Jesus to earth, and trusted him to a 14 year old girl, because he cared about us! I think it’s safe to say we can trust him with our lives.
About the author
Nathalie is 16 and doing her GCSEs in Godalming, Surrey. She loves singing, worshiping, reading and watching movies.
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