Let’s come back to the nativity scene and take our invitation to rest from Mary this time.
Is there something you feel called to do? Some pull toward an action that you just can’t shake? Maybe it’s clear—and you can readily articulate the how’s and why’s. And you are sure that this thing has the power to change your world.
But there are the challenges—the objections…
Perhaps it’s isn’t so clear—it’s a sense, a yet indefinable desire pushing its way up through the layers of internal objections (because until you deal with those, it’s going to be very difficult to answer the external ones).
What are those objections?
***
Let’s consider Mary.
Yesterday’s Guided Scripture on the Bible App1 described Mary’s initial response to the Angel Gabriel when he told her she would conceive a baby—and give birth to the long-awaited Messiah:
“How could that ever happen? I’ve never been with a man—it’s impossible for me to be pregnant!”
The pastor makes the profound observation that, according to Old Testament prophecies, it is her very objection that qualifies her for the job, the mission.
“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14
Again, if pregnancy had been a possibility for Mary, she wouldn’t have qualified as a virgin conceiving a baby.
***
So what would you like to do—what do you feel called to do?
What are your objections?
How might those objections qualify you for that thing?
I like how Dr. Dan Allender—a Christian psychologist and theologian—talks about how our stories, including our wounds and hardships, actually prepare us for the work God calls us to. Rather than disqualifying us, even our pain gives depth to our calling and invites us to partner with God in telling a redemptive story that can bring life and understanding to others.
It is worth taking the time to notice the objections and see how they might inform or affirm our calling.
Certainly, this approach is more restful than battling the objections or feeling frustrated for not taking action.
May your rest be sweet.
Alicia
(based on Luke 1:35 and presented by Pastor Levi Lusko.