Thoughts on Christmas

I have been thinking a lot about Mary the past few weeks, and the role she played in the Christmas story. I would like to share them with all of you.

I think that sometimes we expect God to just take care of things, or make them easy. I think we expect this a lot more when we feel that we are doing his will. We think things like, "If God wants me to ______ then he will do_________." But if you take a look at Mary and her attitude you will see a true "hand maiden of the Lord." Mary was pregnant with the Son of God, the Savior of the World. This was absolutely God's will. On the night of Christ's birth Mary had traveled to Jerusalem with Joseph. As we all know there was no room for them in the Inn and she gave birth in a stable and laid Him in a manger.

Now if I were Mary I would probably have a few thoughts running through my head. 1 - I would probably be a little mad at my husband for not ensuring I was taken care of. After all I AM pregnant and he is supposed to provide for me. I might be mad that he had not made prior arrangements or couldn't figure out how to make sure I had a suitable place to deliver our baby.
2 - I might be a little mad at God. My prayer that night might say, "God, this is your Son, this is your will, you asked me to carry this child, and now, tonight, you have not even provided for me. Did you forget about me? What about what I want? I am willing to do what ever you want me to do, but why is there no room in the Inn, why did things just not fall into place?"

I am grateful to Mary to teach me what true humility is. I am grateful that we have the beautiful Christmas story, and that through her obedience, grace, and understanding, she was not selfish or prideful, but willing to quietly give birth to her son, my Savior, in a stable. I pray that when things aren't going the way I think they should go, rather than blame someone else, I will have the quiet strength, faith, and courage to truly be "an handmaiden of the Lord."