Have you ever really thought about the weight of Mary’s yes?

What all her yes entailed? 

What all that yes cost her, or could have cost her?

As a child, I remember always having this certain image of Mary in my head. She was almost more of a robot than a human being. I was so used to the image of Mary the Queen of Heaven but never truly pondered Mary being a human walking around on earth. 

Has anyone else ever put yourself in her shoes?

How old was she…sixteen? Fourteen?

An Angel shows up and is like, uh hey so do you want to be the Mother of God? 

And she’s like; Heck yes, I just want to do the Lord’s will!

So, she’s basically a kid, who’s talking to angels, and now she’s engaged to a man but pregnant with God’s son. Mind you, all this is taking place during a time where women could be stoned to death for being caught in adultery! 

Is this not all just so mind-boggling? Every time I sit and think about the weight of Mary’s sacrifice, Mary’s yes, I am overwhelmed. She risked being publicly shamed by being divorced by Joseph. She risked ruining her reputation. She risked potentially losing her life. 

Just wow. What an incredible example of faith.

I pray that I could even have half the faith that Mary did.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven. The song’s lyrics are written from Mary’s perspective leading up to the time of Jesus’ birth. The lyrics describe all of the intense human emotions that she probably felt. Fear, loneliness, exhaustion, doubt. I can’t imagine being in her position.

My favorite line in the song is this;

Do you wonder as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

This line is amazing to me because it really makes you understand the amount of faith Mary had in her Savior and his plan. Amidst all the feelings of fear, doubt, loneliness, her ultimate desire was to do God’s will. The lines that say; help me be strong, help me be…help me particularly get to me. For many years I think I always kind of took Mary for granted. These song lyrics shake me in such a way because it shows the raw, vulnerable humanity that Mary had. She’s begging God to help her through this all. Her ‘yes’ wasn’t just a one and done kind of deal, her ‘yes’ required a lifelong commitment, a daily ‘yes’. 

My prayer is that you and I would have the faith that Mary had and the strength to say ‘yes’ to God’s will. Just imagine how our ‘yes’ could change the world!