Everyone knows that Mary was a young woman, a virgin, from a poor family in an obscure village in Galilee. Everyone knows that she was a young woman who showed an unusual faith and humility. What everyone may not realize is that her unqualified yes to God’s plan for her life entailed great personal risk and suffering. She may not have realized at the time that her yes would open seasons of confusion, fear, doubt and darkness in her life as events unfolded. She would know sorrow as she watched her firstborn son as he was shamed, tortured and left to die like the worst criminal. However, her greatest joy would be to see him raised from the dead as her Lord and Savior. Everyone knows her name but do they truly know her story?
A small village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing particularly special about it. Until one day as a young woman going about her day, completing her chores as her life would be changed forever. She is approached by a man in brilliant white. He tells her that she is highly favored and the Lord is with her. Can you imagine her surprise and disbelief? Her? Highly favored? However, it was true. As the mysterious man tells her God’s plan, she must have been hit with a tidal wave of emotions: Confusion. Fear. Awe. Gratitude. Joy and Peace. She simply replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” (Luke 1:38). She must have rushed home, filled with more questions and fear of the responses from others. She became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. She watched him grow into a man and set out on his ministry. She witnessed some of his miracles. She heard about others. And as she stood by his cross at his crucifixion, did she truly understand what was happening? Or did her mother’s heart wish there was another way?
Mary had a unique perspective in the life of Jesus. She is the only human who was present at this birth to be present at his death. She saw him arrive as her son and die as her Savior. One of my favorite songs is the song Mary, Did you know? written by Michael English in 1991 and has been covered many times over. It is often dismissed by some people as ridiculous. “Of course, Mary knew. The angel told her. She knew the Scriptures” they say. But did she really? Did she truly understand what her son would go through as the Messiah? Did she look down at her newborn son and see the great I AM? Did she see him grow up from a baby to a toddler to a child to a teen to a man and see the Son of God? Or did she simply see her son? Many believers have the privilege of centuries removed from the situation to easily dismiss the possibility that Mary didn’t fully understand the task God had given her. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I began to see Mary through a mother’s eyes. As I held my own child in my arms, moments after her birth, how could I possibly fathom the person she would grow up to be? Mary may have known what the Scriptures said but knowing the Scriptures and seeing them unfold before your eyes in two very different experiences.
Women are highly valued in God’s eyes. Despite history and society telling us differently. Even today, some would use the Bible to devalue women. However, anyone who truly knows the Bible knows there are women who were instrumental in God’s plans. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, many women were placed in situations to be God’s instrument. None of these women were perfect but they all had faith to believe in God who can make the impossible possible. Rahab, the prostitute, in Joshua 2 risked her life to hide God’s spies. Esther risked death at the hands of her very powerful husband to save God’s people. And Mary risked being an outcast and shunned from her community for claiming to carry the Messiah. Imagine if a woman came forward today, claiming to be a virgin and carrying the Messiah, conceived by God. I doubt many of us would believe her. Mary’s story reminds us that God’s best servants are often ordinary people who are asked to be a part of extraordinary events. Also, most importantly to me, is that a person’s character is revealed by his or her response to the unexpected. Some would fall and be broken while others would rise up and be extraordinary.
In conclusion, Mary is inspirational to us as a woman and as a mother. We can be like Mary. A woman who brings Jesus into our world by expressing his character, his forgiveness and his grace. As women, we can pray to be like Mary, a woman who was willing to be available to God and says “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” with faith. Being willing to be a part of God’s plan can be scary and with most certain risk to our lives as we know it. However, when we do, God will provide us with the strength and courage that we need. I highly recommend checking out Michael English’s Mary, Did You Know? Even if you know the song already, take a closer listen and see Mary in a new light.
Esther is a major hero of the Bible. Her story is one of only two books in the Bible named after a woman (the other book is Ruth). The Jews were exiled from Judah a hundred years earlier as Jerusalem fell in 587 BC by Babylon. When Babylon fell to Persia, Jews became under Persian power. Esther was an orphan, raised by her cousin, in a foreign land. With great beauty, she captured the eye of the most powerful man in Persia. She shows great courage in a crisis. As she faced a situation that could risk her life, she fasted as she sought God’s guidance and wisdom. Her story and actions helped create the festival of Purim. What is her story? Why is fasting important? Esther is an example of God using ordinary people for his purpose. What other examples to we have to see the power of the impossible?
Her story begins with Vashti, the queen of Persia. When Xerxes, the king of Persia, ordered Vashti to appear before a gathering of his nobles, she refused and she was forever banished. Xerxes sought a new queen to take Vashti’s place. Esther was among the women gathered and Mordecai urged her to keep her Jewish origins a secret. When her turn came, Xerxes was very pleased with Esther that he made her queen. After some time, a man named Haman rose to power, so powerful that others knelt before him. Everyone except Mordecai. Haman became so angry that he plotted to eliminate not just Mordecai but all Jews. When Mordecai discovered the plot, he pleaded with Esther to intervene but she knew she needed to tread lightly. In order to prepare herself for her intervention, she fasted for three days. After her fast, she sought the king. In his presence, he extends his scepter, a symbol that the audience is acceptable, and asks her for her request. This is where Esther was smart, instead of coming out and telling Xerxes about the plot, she invites the king and Haman to a series of banquets. As she gets Haman comfortable and confident, she exposes his plot to Xerxes. The king becomes furious and orders Haman’s death. A situation that could have been the death of the Jews became the celebration of Purim which is celebrated annually on the 14th and 15th days of Adar (February/March).
Fasting is a period of time when no food is eaten and can be a tool to devote extra time in meditation and prayer. It was used in special circumstances when we seek extra consideration from God with our petitions. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, fasting has been used as a call for deeper reflection on sins and repentance. In 2 Chronicles 20:3, King Jehoshaphat called for Judah to fast in order to demonstrate their change of heart, repentance from sin and their true devotion. In Ezra 8:23, he fasted and prayed and God answered his prayer. In Joel 1:14, there’s a call to declare a holy fast as a cry out to God. However, do not use fasting as a manipulation or show how much more righteous or holy you: are compared to others. Jesus taught to fast in secret unlike the Pharisees who used it to show how holy they were (Matthew 6:16-17, Mark 2:18). They twisted the purpose of fasting. They fasted to impress others and not to please God. Isaiah 58 discusses two types of fast. First, the wicked fast (verses 3-5) is displeasing to God, filled with bitterness, strife, and deceit. This fast is the one the Pharisees embarked in because everyone knew they were fasting. They were gloomy, unapproachable and religious. Second, the purifying fast (verses 6-7) is pleasing to God as it is filled with kindness, loving your neighbor as yourself and bringing yourself closer to God.
Esther is another example of God using the ordinary for extraordinary. She was an orphan who became queen of an empire. She was a nobody who became somebody. She risked her life to take a stand for herself and for others. The Bible is filled with the most unlikely, ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary feats for His divine purpose. He had Noah, a drunk, to build the Ark (Genesis 6-9). He took Abraham and Sarah, an older couple, and used them to build a nation (Genesis 11-25). God took Joseph, a spoiled teen, to save nations from a famine (Genesis 37-50). He took Moses, a stuttering man and and murderer, and made him a leader (Exodus 3-4). God used Rahab, a prostitute, to conquer a city (Joshua 2). He used David, a shepherd boy, to kill a giant (1 Samuel 17) and made him a king (2 Samuel 5). He took twelve ordinary men and made his disciples. God took a man who was an avowed enemy and turned him into the most prolific Christian writer in the New Testament (Acts 9:1-19). He’s not looking for people who are perfect, talented or influential. He’s looking for people who are willing and He’ll provide the rest. He is seeking someone to say “Here I am, send me” (Isaiah 6:8). God sees all our faults, our flaws and sees our heart. For what is impossible with men is possible with God (Zechariah 8:6, Luke 18:27).
In conclusion, as a Jewish woman, Esther was weakest among the weak and God took her and placed her in a position to save His people. Earthly powers will seek to kill and destroy but heavenly powers will save and preserve. The Jews faced elimination. Their sorrow was turned into joy. Fasting is a tool we can use to give more time to meditation and prayer. It is a tool which requires humility and urgent prayer. It is not to appear more religious or holy to others but to draw closer to God and his divine purpose. Esther used fasting to prepare herself to stand up for her people, risking her life in the process. The Bible is filled with examples of God using the ordinary for the extraordinary. God can still use us, the ordinary, for his glory. We just need to be willing and he will help us become able.
Jochebed is one of the women Moses can call mother. Her name
means “The Lord is Glory” and she lived a life which would display God’s glory.
She lived as slave and under great oppression, chose to save her child and
trust God. At great risk, she hid her son and when she couldn’t hide him
anymore, she placed him in the river, hoping he would be saved. Jochebed is
another example of God using ordinary people for extraordinary things. A simple
item played an important role in the story of Moses: the basket. How could a
simple woman and a simple basket play into God’s great plan? Jochebed was the
beginning as God began to prepare his people for the great tasks that needed to
be done to lead His people out of Egypt. It was her love, faith and courage
that saved her child and ultimately her people.
Three hundred years after the death of Joseph, the Israelites
became so numerous that Pharaoh feared their possible uprising. Pharaoh
commanded that each Hebrew male child killed after birth, but the Hebrew
midwives feared God’s wrath more than Pharaoh’s. They refused to follow this
order, claiming that the babies were born before they arrived. Then Pharaoh commanded
his soldiers to search out and smother every newborn male in the waters of the
Nile. Imagine the screams of the mothers echo across the Hebrew camp as their
sons were torn from their arms. Jochebed and her husband, Amram, had a plan and
they prayed. After she gave birth to her son, she hid him for three months. Her
older children, Miriam, and Aaron kept quiet about their baby brother.
Remembering that God spared Isaac (Genesis 22:12), she laid her son in a
waterproofed papyrus basket and placed him in the basket in the river. She
walked away, praying that God’s protection would be on her son. And it was.
Pharaoh’s daughter spots the basket in the reeds as she came to the river to
bathe. She names him Moses meaning “I drew him from out of the water.”
Baskets is at the core of this story. As one of the many
vessels used for a variety of tasks in the ancient world. In the home, baskets
stored food. In the fields, they were used to carry clay for bricks. And
baskets as luggage to store supplies on a journey. Made from plant materials,
baskets were made into a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on the job
needed. A basket hid Moses in Jochebed’s home for three months (Exodus 2:2). A
basket protected Moses from the dangers of the Nile (Exodus 2:3). The disciples
used 12 large baskets to gather up the leftovers at the feeding of the 5,000
(Matthew 14:20). A large basket was used to lower Paul out of a window to
escape prison (Acts 9:25). God uses the ordinary for extraordinary tasks.
Ordinary items, ordinary people and ordinary events to display His glory and
amazing will. The Bible is filled with ordinary men and women doing
extraordinary things. He still uses the ordinary today as he did in Jochebed’s
day.
God kept Moses safe midst extraordinary dangers and evil.
Through two women, a slave, and a princess, he persevered the life of Israel’s
future deliverer and the entire Jewish race. According to the Bible, Jochebed
saw that her son was no ordinary child and was determined to save him (Exodus
2:2, Acts 7:20, Hebrews 11:23). Was it just a mother’s love to see her child as
extraordinary? Or was God giving her an insight to the plan He had for her
baby? She had a great faith that God would save her son as she walked away from
the river. Did she truly know he would be fine? I don’t think she did. In the
animated film, Prince of Egypt (1998), an animated film features
Jochebed taking her infant son to the river. I always loved this moment as it
is very emotional scene and as a mother now, it is even more powerful. I can
imagine the heartbreak and uncertainty in her mind as she placed Moses in the
river; but her faith overruled her doubts. As parents, do we have the same
faith in God for our own children?
In conclusion, Jochebed is the hero in Moses’ story. She
took great risk to hide him for three months when it was ordered to have him
killed. It took faith to take her son to the river. Her greatest joy is that
God not only saved her son from the river but restored her child to her.
Tradition holds that she took care of him until he was weaned at about 2 years.
I can imagine her second heartbreak as her son left her house once again. But
she still had faith that God had great plans for him. A simple woman took a
simple basket and her faith and placed her son in the river. Could you imagine
what we could do in simple every day situations with simple every day items
with just an ounce of faith? With love, faith, and a prayer, Jochebed set God’s
plan for deliverance in motion.
