Waiting for God Knows What
Because we all love listening to Janice’s soothing voice we captured the devotion this week on video for you to watch. You can also read below.
P E A C E in the waiting
An unmarried teenage girl is feeling labor pains, though she doesn’t know what they are. She just knows she’s extremely uncomfortable, and her mother isn’t there to help. Her fiancé is going from place to place, trying to secure them a room for the night, to no avail. No one would give up a bed for the pregnant woman; there were only the blank stares of rejection.
Picture them, in the dark, not knowing anyone, or what to do next.
Mary was young, but she knew things. She had been told by the mighty angel Gabriel himself that her unexpected pregnancy was a great gift to the world, and she actually believed him. Her “yes” to God was wholehearted: Mary’s body, mind, soul, and spirit all agreed that while she didn’t know what would happen next, she was all-in.
“I belong to the Lord, body and soul, let it happen as you say.”
How was Mary so brave? She lived with radical hope, which is the kind God specializes in. Mary dared to believe that the outrageous can give way to the possible, and once that belief takes hold, the world might as well be one where all good things can flourish. Even justice. Even freedom. Even peace. Mary was quite the revolutionary for a first century girl, but the even more revolutionary act was how she nourished herself on the words she knew were the truth, like they were manna from heaven. She was rooted, which gave her fresh, deep peace.
Mary didn’t know how anything would turn out, but she knew she wasn’t alone. She trusted the words in her mind, she leaned into her body and its changes, she poured out her soul in song and prayers of thankfulness, and she joined her small spirit with the infinite Holy Spirit in partnership. And then she kept her eyes open to glory.
The path to peace always winds through pain and uncertainty. Peace isn’t the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of vision, layered with desire to bring that vision to life. Mary and Joseph sat in the dark, in a stable, waiting. Pain was coming, they knew it. Yet they pressed into it, for they knew that wasn’t the end of the story, but the beginning.
“The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.” Romans 14:17
This is Living Now
It often takes pain to help us make room for deep peace, because we have to take the step to see beyond our pain to what else is coming our way. One of the names for Jesus is Prince of Peace. He’s right here and he’s also on the horizon, bringing more authentic peace straight to you. Breathe in that beautiful gift, and then exhale it to the world. Your capacity for more will only grow.