saying Yes! - Week Three : 02 Oct 2019 -The Well

OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mardecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so… get on your way!

I was reminded of this Dr. Seuss book as I “pondered”, tried to understand the meaning of Luke 2 and Mary’s “yes” to being the mother of Jesus. I was struck by the contrast. Mary, saying “Yes” was not about the places she would go- her head full of brains and her shoes full of feet, but the places Jesus would go the not-so-good streets that she did not want to go down, but went anyway, refusing to head straight out of town.

 Mary’s book would be “Oh, The Places He Goes!” Although Mary brought Jesus into the world, was His caregiver, His protector, His mother, but she didn’t get to name Him, God did. She didn’t get to cast a vision for Jesus, He casted one for her. She didn’t get to take Jesus to her world-to places she wanted to go. He took her to the Father’s world-where God wanted her to go: uncomfortable places, places of inescapable pain and unimaginable possibilities.

 As Mary experienced bang-ups and hang-ups, she didn’t escape to bright places, she kept saying “yes.” And as Mary continued to say “yes” she saw God. Mary saw confirmation that Her Son, Jesus, is the Deliverer. And the ways in which God confirmed it showed Mary the nature of God’s “yes” to His World.

 Just as Mary carried Jesus within her, as believers we have the privilege of having His very presence within us. But sometimes we think this means taking Jesus where we want to take Him and when. Or worse: we look to Him to bring the world to us! This is saying “No” to God and missing seeing God. Saying “yes” to God is letting Him take us to the world, to the places He goes. This is where we see Him.

 As I look at Mary and see what she was able to see, I want to say “yes” to the places He goes. For there, Mary saw LOVE and life collide: in every situation people were changed! I want to let Him take me to His world, that I might see Him. The only way to see LOVE and Lives collide. Means uncomfortable places!