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How the Story Begins
Gary Randolph
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught - Luke 1:1-4.
The story begins with a young girl. A young girl in a village in the middle of nowhere.
Which is itself remarkable. The stories people make up generally are about important people — kings, heroes, soldiers, rich people. The few times those stories start with someone poor or overlooked, it’s generally a boy with hidden, special powers.
But not the story written by God. The greatest story ever begins with a simple girl from a poor family named Mary. Mary had no special powers. Well, maybe one. She had the power, so often in short supply, of completely trusting God.
In that culture, girls were not thought of highly. They were not considered heroes. But Mary was heroic and courageous. She risked rejection. She sacrificed her dreams. She traveled far under difficult circumstances. And she trusted and clung to hope when all looked bleak. You can't get much braver than that.
The fact that God chose this young girl and her poor, inconsequential fiancée to raise God’s son should make us look at wealth and power differently. It’s fair to say our culture today is obsessed with power and fame. How many followers? How much money? How well can someone influence others or just bend others to their will?
But in this power-mad world, the Christmas story starts with the powerless. In God's plan, power often counts for nothing at all. Look at how King Herod comes off in the story.
Apparently, God doesn’t care all that much about power or wealth or fame. God doesn’t need a king or a general or a billionaire to bring about miracles. In fact, time after time, the Bible demonstrates that God does His best work when there’s no earthly way things can work out. No earthly way. Only a way through the power of God.
Moses knew that, standing on the shore of the Red Sea. David knew that when he hid from an army. Ruth knew it when she pledged her life to a penniless widow. Esther knew it when she walked uninvited into the throne room.
Power is not a necessary ingredient for change. It’s not a needed factor in hope. All that God needs is a willing heart and someone with the courage to say yes.
Like Mary.
For Reflection
Do you rely on the power, wealth and fame of this world? Are you willing to walk away from all that to trust God completely like Mary did? Do you have the courage to say yes to Him.
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