Positioned For The Promise
Have you ever prayed to be used by God for His purpose? Many times, we ask God to use us, but we don’t realize the full magnitude of that request. God’s plan for your life is often revealed in the form of a promise or a desire. God gives a promise not to tease or disappoint you with unfulfilled hope but to see it come to pass in your life.
As we head into Christmas, I can’t help but reflect on the life of Mary. Mary was entrusted with one of the greatest promises ever given. Mary had an opportunity to be used by God to carry the promised Messiah. In Luke 1, we catch a glimpse into the moment the promise was given to Mary. The Angel Gabriel visits Mary with God’s plan. Most likely, an angel didn’t appear to you with instructions or a plan book to follow for your promise, but instead, Holy Spirit has deposited the promise inside your heart.
When Mary gained insight into God’s plan, she asked, “How can this be? I am a virgin.” Her first response in Luke 1:34 was to try and figure it all out in her mind. Isn’t that the first response we have most of the time too? We ask, “God, how is this going to happen?” We focus on the how, but God wants us to focus instead on the who. The angel quickly reminds Mary that the Holy Spirit will take care of what seems impossible; her role in the promise is to say yes to the plan of God. This is the same for you today. It isn’t your responsibility to make the promise come to pass; you are simply responsible for carrying it. You are a partner with God; God hasn’t given you a plan without an instruction guide. In fact, the Bible tells us that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to be our guide! He will lead you; He will do what you can’t do to make the promise come to pass—your job is to say yes.
Mary responds in Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Mary had questions, but she didn’t stay in the realm of rationalization; she quickly transitioned her heart to the position of faith. Mary received God’s plan and began to carry that plan out.
Mary’s Magnificat, the song of Mary in response to praise back to God, is a glimpse into the heart of one chosen, not by happenstance, but by being available to God’s plan. Mary immediately goes into a song, later titled The Magnificat. Mary’s song reveals what God is doing in Mary. When God reveals His promise to you, He is more concerned with what’s going on in your heart, even more so than the plan itself. The revelation of His plan caused Mary to receive a clearer revelation of who God was. Mary had positioned her heart for the promise of God. Mary’s song reveals many reasons why God chose Mary. We see from Mary’s response in Luke 1 that Mary was very knowledgeable of the scripture. She had a love and honor for God’s word. Her love and honor towards God were qualifying factors to be used by God. Second, the Magnificat reveals that Mary listened to and heeded the Holy Spirit. Mary’s response to God’s instruction was one of the spirit, not of the flesh. Mary’s response to the angel’s instruction was spiritual and even prophetic.
The word Magnificat is derived from the Latin version of the song in which the word megalyner is translated as Magnificat. The NEB translation of this word is to “Tell out the greatness of, or to enlarge.” Mary’s life and ministry tell the greatness of God through the mandate given to her by the angel in Luke 1:31, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” God chose Mary to be on the forefront of His plan being birthed in the earth. God still chooses, assigns, and qualifies us to partner with Him in birthing the purposes of God into the Earth. Mary’s humility offered a platform for glorifying the Son of God.
God desires to use your life as a platform for glorifying the Son of God; God chooses you to carry His promise and plan. Our position as partners in the promise is to keep our hearts pure, stay in faith, know God's word, and listen to the guiding of Holy Spirit. As you respond to God’s plan with a heart of, “Let it be to me as you have said.”(Luke 1:38), God will see to it that His plan is fulfilled in and through you. Today, allow the cry of your heart to be not God give me a great plan or a huge promise—but instead, God, allow my life to be a platform to bring you glory and praise!
As you position yourself for the promise, God will take care of every obstacle, every impossibility, and every adversity along the way. “ For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37. As you close out this year and head into the next, be encouraged that if God gave you a promise, He has full intention to see that promise come to pass. We get to partner with God, chosen by Him on purpose for a purpose!