This friend’s uncle passed away on Thanksgiving. The funeral is going to take place out of town on the same day as a wedding of a young cousin on the other side of the family. It was hard enough grieving the loss of a dear uncle. Now her family, her teenage sons in particular, will have a hard time missing a fun and joyful wedding celebration. I understand the sentiment: hard times frequently follow hard times.
What’s interesting was the joy and confidence present in our friend in the midst of these hard events.
What’s interesting is how my friend faithfully serves her family and how she faithfully says yes to God even when life is difficult.
That kind of resilient faith encourages me.
Listen to another hard story from Luke 1:26-38.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
God tells Mary through Gabriel that she will have a son. This is good news, news to be celebrated. Today we celebrate birth announcements by posting videos and photos immediately to Instagram. We throw gender reveal parties. We pop open the champagne (just none for the expectant mother). We plan baby showers. We buy paint and order furniture.
But Mary wasn’t even fully married yet, and God is asking her to give birth to and adopt his son. I need you to love him, feed him, raise him, care for him, and provide for him even though you have essentially no resources. This good news is “greatly troubling” news, too.
Of course this first hard thing led to the doubly hard. It’s time to go to Bethlehem for the census. Surely, since this baby is the Lord’s request there will be a private charter jet to take Mary and Joseph on their journey. No? Can they at least fly first class Delta priority? How about a helicopter or a limousine? Still no?
There was not even a chariot, a carriage, or a horse. But I bet if you asked Mary after the fact, she would tell you how grateful she was for the donkey.
Then comes the next hard thing. There is no hospital and no midwife. They didn’t even have a flash light. I have a flashlight on my pocket-sized phone that can be turned on and off by speaking. They had nothing. But I bet if you asked them after the fact, Mary and Joseph would tell you how grateful they were for the moon.
This weekend my family traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to see a gospel presentation at the historic Ryman Auditorium. As part of the presentation Jill Phillips sang this Andrew Peterson song while Andy Gullahorn played guitar and Ben Shive played piano. The lyrics are poetry; poetry about hard things.
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
Every beat of her beautiful heart
Was a labor of love
Noble Joseph by her side
His callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
On the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
And so, he held her, and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
Every beat of her beautiful heart
Was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
It was not a silent night
On the streets of David's town
Here’s the thought for today.
God asks his people to do hard things. He invites us into hard labor. And most of the time when you say yes to God, the hard work gets harder. We might say it becomes impossible.
But all of the time, one hundred percent of the time, when we say yes to God, things get better. Harder but better. For nothing will be impossible with God.
After all, Emmanuel means God with us.
My hope and prayer in the midst of the doubly hard is that we respond just as Mary did. “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”
