Carrying A Promise
When I became a mom I understood the Christmas story from a different perspective. I can't imagine riding a donkey 9 months pregnant. And delivery was a horrifying experience for me at 20, in the comfort of a hospital room, surrounded by professionals. I can't imagine being 15 or 16 and having a baby in a barn.
That girl, carrying a promise, on a spring night, surrounded by animals and straw. She must have been so scared. She wasn't super-human. She was just like me or you. But I also remember the feeling of that baby in your arms for the first time, hearing that cry. The emotion is overwhelming. She was holding that promise. The joy that you feel in that moment is indescribable.
And then rushes in the emotional weight of the responsibility of this person, and as a new mother you look at this child and realize that you will never ever be the same. During your pregnancy your body housed two souls. And when you give birth that soul is now out and about. I remember being pregnant with Silas and Addie and thinking, I'll never be closer to this baby than right now. Then they are in your arms. No matter what this baby is on your heart and can't ever leave. It's like your heart is out walking around, and it's worse because someone can hurt me all they want but there is no greater pain than watching your child endure bullying or pain.
If Mary was 15 when she had Jesus, she would have been about 48 when she watched her son be spit on, abused, and brutally, slowly killed. They took her baby away from her. There was nothing she could do. TORTURE. So imagine the joy in HER heart to see Him alive again.
And when God sent His Spirit, Mary's body once again housed the Spirit of God. This girl carrying a promise again. A promise that will come to pass. Only when this promise is born, the joy won't ever go away. Nobody will be able to take it away. There will be no fear of losing it. That is a promise that we carry too. Faith in Jesus gives us His Spirit too. And we have assurance that Jesus is coming again.
"Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 5:5