(First of all, I would like to thank Koinonia and 'Faith Dames' for inviting me and accepting me into your fold of Dames with Faith. I am truly honoured and feel so blessed. 'Through Mary's Lenses' is not new. I just 'stole' it from my book 'The Diary of a Desperate Naija Woman in the Year 20-Ten' because I just could not wait to be part of this group! I hope you like it. I hope it blesses you. And most of all, I hope it, in any little way possible, makes the fires of your faith flare more ferociously!
Usually, all my thoughts are on Baby Jesus at Christmas. How bout you? Same, abi? There are always, and rightly so, calls from all corners for us to remember the real reason for the season and so we do. We do our best to make sure that as we go through all the eating, drinking and jisting, we do not forget to give thanks for the real gift that keeps on giving. The gift from God to a world in dire need of a way out from eternal destruction - Jesus Christ .
This year has been no different. Thanks to reading 'The Shack', this Christmas, I am very aware of the awesome love God has for me more than ever. I am so grateful to God for Jesus Christ but today is a little different. Thanks to my Pastor, I was called on to think about his mother, Mary . At least, right now, today, Jesus Christ is really just a tiny baby in a manger so I think it will be OK to spend some time thinking about his Mama, abi?
We really do not think about this woman often enough. Not sure why cos THAT was no mean feat agreeing to be 'conceived of the Holy Spirit' especially in the times she lived in. Especially when there was a very likely chance Joseph would not believe her incredible story. And who would blame him? Never before had a woman, a virgin, come forward to claim that she was pregnant. Wahala number 1. We are talking, fornication here and offense punishable by death. A very painful, slow death by stoning. Then on top of that she goes on to claim that the one 'who dunnit' is not a mere man but a 'spirit'! Wahala number 2! Come on! She has surely gone mad, they would say. Not only had she been messing around, she now had the audacity to be claiming that God was responsible! Just try to imagine the faces of her people as she told them this story! And I remember reading somewhere that Mary was only about 14/15 years at the time!
So for just the time it will take you to read this rest of this, please wear the 'glasses' Mary must have been looking at her life through in this season of her life after she had that one of a kind meeting with Angel Gabriel Joseph say? What would her parents and her soon to be in laws think of her? How would the people look at her now? What if ALL this was the figment of some serious fever she MUST be suffering from? Who had ever heard of a virgin getting pregnant? Oh my gosh, her reputation will be in shreds now! Her engagement will surely be annulled and on top of that surely, they will stone her! I am going to die! And on and one her mind must have been reeling.........but what did she do with all these thoughts? How would she cope? What did she say? Let's see, follow me to Luke 1: 38 and we shall see what this young woman said:
Wow! She was basically saying - Let them reject me if that's part of your plan, let them think I have gone mad, let Joseph turn his back on me if that's what it means, in fact, yes! let them stone me if that is what God wants. What a demonstration of absolute TRUST in her God. And I know that deep in her heart, she somehow knew that God loved her too much and that it would ALL work out for good. She may not have had one single clue HOW but she knew HE would come through. Mary trusted God with her very life.
In 2011, by the special grace of God, I am going to be like Mary , mother of Jesus Christ .
I will trust God with my very life.
How about you dear one? How about you?
How about you dear one? How about you?
(c) DesperateNaijaWoman
