Dear Lady of Dreams,
I want you to imagine for a moment with me. Can you do that?
Imagine for a moment a young teenage girl sitting at home taking a break for a moment from one of her many chores that her mom has asked her to do. She looks out her window and watches all the people walking through the busy town street outside, and she wonders if any of the young, handsome men passing by will be her future husband. Without dwelling on it too much, she gets back to work.
Ok, now lets jump ahead a couple years, that same girl is now engaged with a wonderful, godly man. She is looking forward to her wedding day with anticipation and dreaming of the future they will spend together. Then all of a sudden, someone comes into her room where she is packing her things and gives her some news that will forever change her life and the dream she had with her future husband. In fact, it was something that could cause the wedding to be called off and have everyone she knew turn against her and consider her a terrible person.
What would you do in this situation? Truthfully, I would probably freak out and wonder why God would have me wait for a godly man for so long and then bring something into my life to destroy all my dreams. All girls from an early age dream of their future husband, someone they can love and be loved by, and the idea of it all being ripped away sounds unbearable.
But the girl in the story didn’t act that way. You may actually know who that girl is. Her name is Mary. She became the mother of Jesus. The news she received was that she was going to have a baby, and it wasn’t going to be Joseph’s, her future husband’s, but rather God was going to have her bear his only son.
Hearing this news, Mary willingly gave over her life to be used by Christ, even when it could cause trouble for her later. A woman being found pregnant outside of marriage was a huge sin, which often caused the woman to be rejected by all. But Mary obeyed God with joy in obedience and hope that he would take care of her. Later an angel explained everything personally to Joseph and all worked out perfectly according to God’s word and they still got married.
Full story in Luke.
When we trust and serve God, fully surrendered to him, we can joyfully walk in the path of life that he has for us, even when we don’t know all the details. Mary had no idea that she would be picked for such an important task by God, she was just a normal girl with dreams, like the rest of us. But… She was willing to give her life, dreams, and future up to God. She let God write her love story and well… Her story turned out pretty amazing. She is the only woman who can say she carried, gave birth to, and raised the son of God. All because she obeyed God willingly.
Can we say what Mary said the moment she found out her life and dreams were about to be changed? Luke 1:38 “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
If God has different plans for your life, rather than the relationship you have been dreaming about, are you willing to accept that with joy? Instead of hanging with friends in the summer sun, are you willing to go on that missions trip He is guiding you to? Are you picking the college that has a large number of male attendees rather than the Bible college that will help you grow in your faith and prepare you for further ministry? Or are you willing to say “Here I am Lord, use me according your will?”
Signing off,
Tami