ADVENT SERIES
PEACESpace for God
(Luke 1:39-55) charcoal on paper 2018 artist thoughts
So Mary receives an unexpected visit from the angel Gabriel and this messenger from God tells her that she will be the one to give birth to the savior of the world, God’s answer and redeeming gift for all creation. How mysterious. How amazing. How miraculous. I found it comforting that God was also working in someone else’s life in a miraculous way and brought the two of them together to walk out this part of the story. Mary was told that her barren, much older, cousin Elizabeth was currently six months pregnant. Someone also experiencing a miracle. Someone that can testify to God’s gracious and promise fulfilling presence with humanity. Someone with eyes to see the reality of the heavenlies around us. Perhaps she rushed to the one person in her life who would be most conscious of the miraculous hand of God. I imagine a terrified but anticipant teenager running expectantly toward the house of her older relative hoping to affirm "Is it true?" Affirming Gabriel’s message, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and testifies to the reality of Mary’s pregnancy before Mary is even far enough along to “show” and, in the womb, John leaps at the voice of Mary/presence of Jesus. Reality was veiled but not for long, what we see isn’t the whole story. The cover is not the book. How can we trust, live and move in a way that yields to what God says and what we are to believe He will do? I've read an Advent devotional that put it like this, “Mary said “yes” to becoming a space for God. “ We have space for God in our lives too. Let’s open our hearts and minds to the leading of the Spirit. Let’s do life together trusting the good and loving will of God even if we don’t currently see it. Let's walk in the peace of knowing God. View the time lapse video HERE. |