I am mildly obsessed with reading of the lives of women gone by. Memoirs, biographies and the like. I swallow these books whole in an evening and then pout that the story is finished. These women I read of, their lives were many times very hard, never rich. Common, and you know that’s my favorite.
I’m enamored by the immense power held in the life of a woman lived as God has asked her to. The impact of her forging the design her essence was created for. She is not insignificant. God smiled as He wove her together in her mother’s womb, I am sure of it. Be careful what the world calls meek, for here the glimmer of God is revealed.
The courage to say “yes”
The shared thread in the stories of their lives, they said yes. Yes to God right where they were. In devastating circumstances, adversity, in the midst of what was nowhere near their plan. I think we prefer to romanticize the past, but then the moral is lost. Their suffering muffled by the breach in time. They loved no less, their weariness sliced just as deep as ours.
This is my prayer for myself, and for my children. When the world says there is no hope, when the sacrifice is gaping, my prayer is that my daughters, their daughters and on, will close their eyes and declare yes to God.
I revere the verse in the bible when Mary is visited by the Angel. She is told she will bear a child. A very young woman, unmarried, in a culture and time when this could mean death for her. This would be immeasurable shame upon her family.
Mary’s “yes” that changed the world
Mary’s response to the Angel was, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Not because this made sense, or because she was equipped or had a plan.
To the eyes of the outside world, Mary laying in a cave delivering a baby among animals looked very much like defeat. That could not possibly be further from the truth. A young girl of humble means, gave birth to the Savior of the world.
God is calling you, too
Do not ever believe that the plan God has for you is small, because you feel small. What looks like defeat to some, may be the very reason for which you were created. The work given your hands right now, this is what God has called you to do.
One day when you go home to heaven God will say, ‘Well done My good and faithful servant.” May I strive to always say, “Yes, Lord. Here I am.” I have heard it spoken that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. No truer words were ever spoken.
