Mary Said Yes Faster Than I Reply To Texts

We reflect on Mary’s immediate yes and what it means to pre-decide obedience before the specifics arrive. We share a simple pocket prayer for the season and invite a posture of trust anchored in discernment and courage.

• choosing a Christmas character for focused reflection
• Mary’s immediate response and its implications
• obedience as a pre-decided posture
• discernment versus rash decisions
• applying an advance yes to the year ahead
• using a pocket prayer to train trust

Maybe you want to join me in that as well. Maybe that's your gift to the Lord this year. Your advance, yes.

Transcript

Choosing A Character To Reflect On

Mary’s Immediate Yes To God

Obedience As An Advance Decision

Applying Mary’s Yes To The Year Ahead

A Pocket Prayer Of Advance Yes

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Merry Christmas, my sidewalk family. I am excited to share a few thoughts with you on this Christmas day. And I want to just share about something that I try and do every year, which is I try and ask the Lord, is there a character in the Christmas story that I am meant to like give some added attention and reflection? And so over the years I've thought about like, well, what would it have been like to be Joseph? Or what would it have been like to be the shepherds or the three kings? Well, this year I got stuck on Mary and I read her story with like a fresh sense of wow, this was truly an amazing woman. And so I just like to share a few of those reflections with you, and perhaps they will help make uh this Christmas celebration a bit more meaningful for you as well. So when the angel delivered the news to the Virgin Mary, Mary's response was immediate and dare I say, staggering, at least to me. Here's what she said I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Luke 138. Now I'm not sure I can fully comprehend her willingness to say yes to such a complicated promise. I mean, the angel said she would be a mother as a virgin. Like, okay. And then like without any hesitation, she just said, I'm I am willing to face the future of all that that means. I I'm willing to be misrepresented. I mean, I'm willing to be misunderstood. And part of what like takes me aback as I think about this story and reflect on like what it would have been to hear these words and then to process them, I'm I'm again taken aback by the immediacy of her answer. Like she didn't say, Hey, can I think about this? Or are you sure this is what I need to do? There was no hesitation. There was like this immediate yes, I am willing. May it be so. And I try to put myself in that situation, and and I don't know that I could have done that, especially given the fact that she is a teenager. There was there must have been something like at the center of her core where obedience was a preordained decision for her. In other words, the yes was an advanced decision even before she knew the ask. Now, when I think about my own life and maybe what this next year will hold, like I'm not sure what it will be. And and there are some signs and signals that it may have its own share of complexities. But one thing I'm convinced about is that it will not carry the weight or the challenge that Mary faced. And and yet, even though that's true, when I think about like, what if the Lord asked me to do this or what if the Lord asked me to do that? Would I have that same predisposition to say yes without trying to like um navigate around it or or ask for some, like, if I do this, would you do no bargaining? Would I just go ahead and say, Lord, may it be to me, just as you said. Could I say that? And my reflection on Mary's story has been a point of conviction for me. It's forced me to say, Would I do it? And I've I felt the invitation of the Holy Spirit to say, you know what, Pete, this could be a growth edge for you. For you to do what Mary was willing to do. To think about, you know, this year ahead and all that it may involve, and just predetermine, it's going to be a yes, Lord. Whatever you ask, whatever you want from me, whatever you want to do in my heart, or whatever you want to do through me in the world, I'm willing to say yes. And that doesn't mean I don't have to operate in wisdom and discernment, because obviously that's part of it. But once I know it's the Lord, like once he speaks and says this is what it's gonna be, then I want that to be my answer. Yes, no matter what it is. When I think about Christmas, that's where I've been spending these last few weeks, and just kind of saying, okay, Lord, this is gonna be my pocket prayer. You know, some of you know that I create these little prayers uh and they are like a breath prayer that I hold on to for the day. But this case, it's been a pocket prayer that I'm holding on for the season. So it's like something I'm holding on to as I walk into every room, as I walk into every decision, as I contemplate what I want to be about. I'm saying, okay, Lord, you have my advance yes. And maybe you want to join me in that as well. Maybe that's your gift to the Lord this year. Your advance, yes. Lord help us. Merry Christmas.