13 Reasons To Keep GoingShembull

GOD IS WITH YOU IN EVERY SITUATION

Ain’t no jiving

Ain’t no joking

Everything is broken

-Bob Dylan, Everything is Broken

Imagine being a teenage girl, engaged to be married, and already pregnant. Sounds like a nightmare. Now imagine that you haven’t had sex, that your baby is the result of God choosing you to bear His Son. And you have to communicate this to your fiancé, your parents, your friends.

Yes, they will assume you are insane. They will also, most likely, turn their backs on you because what they think you’ve done is totally unacceptable. At least, it was in first century Israel.

It all seemed wrong. There was nothing good about Mary’s situation. Sure, the angel had said God was with her. But no one else was there to hear it. And who was going to believe her story?

God does things in unlikely ways. While He is consistent (never changing) and faithful, He isn’t predictable. He somehow manages to confound us with His choices and methods of operation.

Mary’s plight shouldn’t be surprising given all that led up to it: creation, the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the rescue operation God launched via Israel, and the host of unlikely characters that followed. Jesus’ genealogy is testimony to God’s strange ways. It contains a woman who disguised herself to be a prostitute and had sex with her father-in-law (Tamar), a woman who’s described as a “harlot” (Rahab), a foreigner from Moab (Ruth), and a woman who committed adultery with the King of Israel (Bathsheba).

The bottom line is that God uses people for His purposes. Flawed people. People who make mistakes. People who sin. People who might seem to be disqualified by their actions. He seems to enjoy surprising us with His choices and, in the process, reminds us of His grace and mercy. He’s all about second chances.

Mary’s life didn’t suddenly get easier. She got married, had the baby, raised her son (all in the shadow of scandal), then watched as He was put to death. Remarkably, while she may have doubted, her faith might have wavered (we don’t know for sure how she handled it all), she remained obedient to God.

How’s your life? Does your situation seem messed up – either by your own mistakes or by the weird and wild ways of God? Remember that He is in the business of bringing new life where things seem dead, hope out of hopeless situations. Hang on and trust Him to do what only He can do – and what He does best.

PRAYER: I don’t understand. I’m confused. Things don’t make sense. All I know is that You have promised to be faithful. So I’m going to believe that. Right here and right now. Do what only You can do.