“Greetings, you who are highly favored!” (Luke 1:28)  

One of my favorite characters in the Christmas story is Mary.  Though I really admire her, I must confess she sometimes seems out of reach to me spiritually.  She seems so holy, so perfect,…so unlike me.

This is only reinforced when I look around at the chaos of my life.  My journey to becoming a godly woman is bumpy.  It feels less than glamorous; not at all like the life of the mother of Jesus.  There really are days when my place in God’s story can feel like a mistake.  How can I believe my life is highly favored, as I clumsily try to navigate my way through the difficulties of this journey?

But when we examine the Christmas story more closely, we see Mary was given the highlights of God’s promises, not the details of the journey.

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  (Luke 1:32a)

While she was given the big picture, the rest was blurry and she had to take in faith.

Maybe the details would have terrified her?  Like us, she embraced this declaration with acceptance, a bit of anticipation, and joy as His servant.   But did Mary realize what her acceptance would cost her?  As Simeon held that child up offering praise to God for the culmination of His salvation, did Mary realize what would follow next?

Her favored journey looks like this:

an initial rejection by her fiancé and the looming possibility of stoning; 

an ill-timed trip to Bethlehem, a place void of family, friends, and space, during the final days of her pregnancy; 

dirty shepherds visiting her new baby just after giving birth; 

fleeing to Egypt in the middle of night with the cries of anguished mothers ringing in her ears; 

losing the Messiah of the world while on vacation in Jerusalem; 

rejection of the religious community, and perhaps being known in the neighborhood as the mother of this lunatic from Nazareth;

and finally, the piercing of her heart as she watches her dreams and God’s promises die on that cross?

This hardly resembles the life, at least in our minds, of one who is highly favored.

I’m thinking Mary probably had to go back and reaffirm her willingness to serve God at each unexpected place she found herself in.

When the manifestation of the journey did not seem to match the declaration, she had to rely on one thing:

Faith in God’s promises and trust He would do what He said He would do.

Believing that God had made no mistake despite what she saw in front of her and around of her.  She was right where she needed to be and He was finishing His work according His plans, not according to her expectations.

When life is not what you expected it to be, go back to His promises and that first place of acceptance with joy.  Despite what it looks like to you on the outside, as His servant you are right where you need to be.

And make no mistake, He isn’t finished with you yet.