Advent: Join the TriumphSample

The Scripture:

"Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must call him Jesus'” (Luke 1:29-31, NIRV).

The Story:

You may think of Angels as having blonde hair, wearing a halo, having wings, and wearing nice, white robes. If you pass by a Nativity set, notice what the Angel looks like because here, Mary shows us what the rest of the Bible shows us: when an Angel shows up it is terrifying. Angels are God’s Messengers and they do not look like humans.

Mary, the future mother of Jesus, is just living her life chilling out, probably eating their version of Doritos back then, which is just probably wheat, but then this Angel shows up and tells Mary she will become pregnant and have a son. Now this is very shocking to Mary.

Mary at this time was a teenager probably the age of a 9th grader and she was not married. She was not expecting a baby, and she shouldn’t have been, as some important steps were missing. Mary was very upset, but the Angel’s Good News brought Peace. The Good News that brought Peace is that Jesus would be born and He would be the One God’s people had been waiting on. I am sure Mary was still nervous, but from this place of hope, she had a new Peace. Peace because she trusted God was Good and had Good Plans for her and for Jesus.

Maybe right now you don’t feel at peace at all. You have 17 Christmas parties to go to, you have to get all your friends' gifts, and you have to take a few more tests before school gets out. There’s a lot on your mind and on your shoulders.

Here is the amazing thing about God: even in the middle of craziness, we can still have Peace. The Peace of God is not God just getting rid of all your problems. He’s not in Heaven with a giant eraser getting rid of anything that could bother you. No, the Peace of God is not getting rid of outside problems, but bringing Peace to your heart. One way we can describe Peace is when we are still and know that Jesus is God. When we do that, yes there will still be things to do, but we can rest in God and His Plans.

The Triumph:

Christmas happened because Mary did not run away from God’s Plans, but trusted God’s Plans and had Peace. How can you be a person of Peace this Christmas season, to not be freaked out or not be overwhelmed? To trust in God’s Goodness and God’s Plans? God wants to give you Peace, you just have to accept it and live it out.