Grace for the humble

It’s Christmas week! How time has flown in 2020! I want to go back to what we talked about a couple weeks ago. We were looking at how God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. We talked about Noah and building the ark. The second person I wanted to talk about was Mary the mother of Jesus. I was saving this message for Christmas week. 🙂

“During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God’s presence to an unmarried girl named Mary, living in Nazareth, a village in Galilee. She was engaged to a man named Joseph, a true descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Grace to you, young woman, for the Lord is with you and so you are anointed with great favor.” Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. You will become pregnant with a baby boy, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be supreme and will be known as the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will enthrone him as King on his ancestor David’s throne. He will reign as King of Israel forever, and his reign will have no limit.”

Luke 1:26-33

Isn’t that amazing that when it came to the Savior of the world God still chose to partner with human beings? I am sure Mary was not perfect because even Jesus said there is no one who is good but God (Mark 10:18). So, if no-one is good no need to go looking for perfect. Flawed as we are, God still wants to partner with humanity to accomplish His plans. But God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves.

Mary may have supernaturally become pregnant but I doubt her pregnancy was any different to other human pregnancy. She probably had morning sickness, swollen ankles, hormonal changes, sore back, all sorts of things that pregnant women experience culminating in the process of labour bringing forth baby King Jesus.

See, just because it was God does not mean she got to skip the process. She didn’t circumvent the discomfort or the pain of pregnancy and labour. Just because she was carrying God doesn’t mean her pregnancy happened today and Jesus was born tomorrow. She still had to carry Him for 9 months. She still had to go through the natural things that she had to go through even with the Supernatural growing in her.

Likewise, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We may not be pregnant with baby Jesus but we have His Spirit living in us. But that does not exempt us from life. It does not exempt us from going through natural processes. It does not exempt us from pain and labour and struggle and strife.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, had to give birth in a barn. You would think God would reserve a 5* hotel for Mary and Joseph with the top midwives available round the clock but nope. Do you think that perhaps God did that for Mary? Jesus didn’t care where He was born and God surely could have easily arranged the most comfortable place for Mary to birth Him.

Could it be that there was no room at the Inn for various reasons but one was to help Mary stay humble? We talked last week about how godly wisdom pairs up with humility. Mary could have made a scene at the Inn. “Don’t you know who I am? I am Mary, the favored of the Lord. The one who is going to birth the Messiah. Give me your best room now!” #pregnancyhormones lol. But nah, she didn’t do all that. Like God intervened in my situation from last week, God intervened in Mary’s life too. I think God does things like that sometimes to help us stay humble and grounded. Yes, Mary was carrying the Savior of the world but she had to birth Him in a barn. Mary was humble and thank God for that otherwise we would need to change the words to “Silent night”, lol.

Some of the things that do not make sense in your life right now, could it be that God is trying to keep you grounded? The process God takes us through is supposed to help us stay humble and mindful of our need of Him, lest we think of ourselves more highly than we should. Even the Apostle Paul confessed to having a thorn in his flesh which was there to keep him humble, 2 Corinthians 12:7. God doesn’t do these things to us but He does it for us because His word tells us that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, 1 Peter 5:5. I know I need all the grace I can get!

When God begins to use us and flow through us, it’s no time to boast and say, “Look at me”. It’s an opportunity to point people to Jesus. The Messiah. The Savior of the world. Look at Jesus! The manifestation of God’s love for humanity. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. The gift that keeps on giving.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas where everything points to Jesus and reminds you of the Father’s great love for you!

Merry Christmas!

Melissa Tsingano.