Along with great blessing comes great sacrifice. Consider Mary. She was told she would be the mother of the long-awaited Savior. This would mean great honor, yet with this blessing she would also be scandalized. Even Joseph did not believe that she could be pregnant without knowing a man, never mind the wags and gossips of the town. People would shake their heads and point their fingers, laughing at her and mocking her situation.
This great blessing meant the loss of normal life.
Imagine raising a perfect child, taking Him to the play areas and being
compared to other children by mothers who could not help but notice His
obedience. Imagine realizing that your child would die on a cross, not for His own
guilt but for the sin of the world. Imagine Him not answering your call because
He was with what He called His family, a pack of sinners who had repented.
And yet Mary responded to this incredible challenge to
her dignity, reputation and faith with a song . . .
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:46–49).
Mary is a rebuke to me. When life hands me a blessing,
I tend to focus on the sacrifices that go with it, even have pity parties over
them instead of a victory party celebrating the blessing. My negativity bothers
me, yet this perspective seems such a part of who I am that all my efforts to
change it have been useless. The only thing that helps is spending time with
those who are gifted to see the positive side of things, those who will point
me toward the blessing instead of how much this is costing me. Such people are
rare.
Mary had a wondrous faith, even a matchless faith. No
one was ever blessed as she was nor experienced the challenges that went with
that blessing. Only her faith in the goodness and purposes of God sustained
her. Before the events told her by the angel could happen, she was singing
praises. Her soul glorified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior.
At the very least, unbelief would have said, “Wait and
see” or “This is not a good thing.” Fear would have driven her to silence and
shame. But faith could not wait, complain, or be silent. Faith must sing, and sing
she did.
Sometimes I wake in the morning with a song in my
heart. I’m no singer, but the song rattles around inside my head and may even
come out and be expressed (off key most times). The devotional reading suggests
that a person like me might be tempted not to sing it until my hopes are
accomplished and my small faith has been exchanged for fact. But that is not
the case. If the song is there, so is the Holy Spirit who put it there. Because
of Him, I must sing and can sing. Because of Him, my heart ignores the
sacrifice or can rise to the challenge of it. In my normal self, this would
never happen. I need the Holy Spirit.
I’m thinking this was the same for Mary. The same Spirit
who blessed this virgin with a child in her womb also put the song in her heart
and stayed there with her so that she could sing it. This is why her soul and
spirit could magnify the Lord and rejoice in Him. He fills hearts and minds
with Himself and gives songs — songs when the mercy is accomplished and songs
for when the mercy is still only a promise. Because of Him, I can sing praises
to God, even in the hours that require great sacrifice.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name . . . (source)
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