Luke 1:31-33 – “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
For the first time this year, I considered the fact that there was a moment for Mary when the presence of God was likely felt as the uneasiness of morning sickness. It’s a discomfort that women know is leading them to a new life. They would never sign up for it, but they bear it as part of the joy to come.
When you first met Jesus, do you recall the spiritual high? Do you remember the joy of knowing you beheld Jesus and eternal life with Him for the first time? How about the first time queasy, uneasy feelings came to your gut when Jesus then asked you to step out in faith for Him? I had a small understanding of a mother’s morning sickness the first time Jesus called me to preach. I was sick all night before that first sermon. I was being stretched beyond my own capacity. I’ll also never forget the joy of Christ’s presence being birthed through my obedience. Going through the physical details of the divine call, after initial spiritual highs, will make everyone queasy at times.
The difficulty in letting God grow us is that we aren’t quite clear about what the outcome looks like. The Christmas story was full of uneasy, queasy moments for Mary and Joseph just like everyone else involved in God’s story. The blessing we have is that we get to see their stories played out in the pages of Scripture to encourage us to focus on God’s faithfulness.
He who began a good work in you will see it to completion through the highs and the uneasy moments of life.