Easter is coming but first comes the cross. The celebration of Jesus’ resurrection brings joy and hope that is only significant in view of the crucifixion. I can’t imagine the rollercoaster of emotions experienced by the followers of Jesus the short week between Palm Sunday and Easter morning: joy, fear, devastation, disbelief, and back to joy mixed with wonder after the resurrection. My heart goes out to Jesus’ mother, Mary and what she must have felt during this horrific time. When she said yes to the message delivered by the angel Gabriel as a young girl of only 14, I’m sure she had no idea what lay ahead. The gossip had to be biting when she was found to be pregnant and unmarried. Thank goodness Joseph listened to the angel in his dream who told him that the baby Mary carried was God’s son. He took Mary as his wife and thus took on the role of earthly father to Jesus. Joseph protected Jesus and Mary by leaving for Egypt when they were threatened by King Herod. When they settled back in Nazareth after Herod’s death, perhaps Mary thought things would then be peaceful. Maybe they were for a time as Jesus grew into a man. But Mary had been warned of times ahead by Simeon as he held the 8 day old Jesus in his arms at the Temple in Jerusalem when he was consecrated. In Simeon’s prophesy he told Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” I wonder if his words came back to Mary as she watched her son beaten and bloody carrying his cross through Jerusalem. According to biblical accounts, when they nailed Jesus to the cross, Mary was there with the disciple John and Mary Magdalene. Did she reach up to touch his feet as he hung there? Did she hold his limp body when he was taken down from the cross? These were the same feet she had washed, the same body she had held in her arms hundreds of times. Her heart was certainly pierced that day. She would not understand why this had to happen for 3 long days until the light of Easter morning when the risen Jesus appeared. The hearts of the disciples would have ached for Jesus but the bond between a mother and her child is much deeper.

This bond begins long before a baby’s actual birth. Most mom’s would attest to this. For 9 months, this growing life resides within us. I remember thinking it odd once each of my children was born, not feeling their movement inside me any longer. It was uncomfortable at times when I would have kicks into my ribs but it was something I grew to love. Birth was like an unveiling of the little person I already held in my heart. When I was pregnant with my oldest child, Anna, I spent the last 3 months at the VA in Indianapolis as a 3rd year medical student. I had visions that I would be able to schedule easy rotations at the end of my pregnancy, but this was not to be. Anna spent every 3rd night with me at the hospital on call. It was pretty crazy but I made it through. When Anna decided to come a little early, she surprised all of us. My med school friends had planned a baby shower the day she delivered and we had to postpone it. That night Anna and I were alone together for the first time since she was born. Her eyes were open and alert. I drew my knees up as I sat on the bed and placed her there so we could see each other. I pondered the beauty of this blue eyed, ash blond miracle looking up at me. I knew then that I would do anything to protect her and would love her no matter what. Even though each one of my three children is different, the feelings I have for them are the same. By her actions, Mary showed that she also held these same, deep feelings for her son.

The maternal instinct in Mary would have wanted to protect and save Jesus from the suffering he endured. She suffered in agony with him as he hung on the cross. She knew as no one else that Jesus was the Son of God but neither she nor his disciples grasped the magnitude of his true mission. Mary couldn’t keep him from the cross because he chose to be there. She couldn’t save him from suffering but he came to save her for eternity. No one would have felt the joy Mary felt as she beheld her son alive that first Easter morn. She was the mother of the Savior of the World. What greater responsibility or joy could there be? How could Mary have known the consequences of her choice to accept Gabriel’s words and say yes to God? She was just an ordinary small town girl singled out for this special role. She suffered greatly for her choice. In the long run, making the choice to love deeply, necessitates risking everything. Oftentimes pain is the price paid. Anyone who has lost someone they loved dearly, knows this pain. But remember, on the cross, Jesus showed us what it means to risk it all for love. In his eyes, it was worth the price paid to save us all for eternity.

Thy Will Be Done

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Suzanne Montgomery

After the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, He gave them what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” as a model. I doubt that Jesus meant us to recite this prayer verbatim but this is what’s done in many Christian churches every Sunday during worship. If you are like me, I’ve repeated this prayer in unison with other believers so many times that I have to consciously think about the words as I say them. The words can be profound if we really contemplate their meaning. When I pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” I am taken aback by the magnitude of what I am actually requesting. Am I truly open and willing to allow this to become a reality?

Allowing God’s will to reign on earth necessitates that our individual wills are relinquished and made secondary to His. This is counter-cultural in a world where individualism is actively promoted from infancy. Society teaches us to be “Me” focused rather than “We” focused. Inherent in this way of thinking is the need to be in control. Opening ourselves to God’s will, means letting go of this control. There is an old saying that captures what must happen for this to occur. “If God is your co-pilot, then change seats!”

I will be the first to admit that I want to be the chief pilot of my life. My parents will attest to this. As a small child, whatever we were doing, I would say, “I want to do it myself.” It didn’t matter if I was too small, I wanted to try anyway. I wonder sometimes if God looks at me as my parents would and says, “I really could help you with that, but if you insist, go ahead and try it your way first.” How much grief would I have saved myself if I had listened to my parents and to God first? Isn’t it human nature to have to learn things the hard way?

The need for control is an area I’m sure that I will struggle my whole earthly life to overcome. I have the desire to let go of control but then the micromanager in me comes forth to defeat my efforts. The times have been few when I have been able with God’s help to calm my inner controller and submit to His direction. No one really likes the word “submit” but that is really what has to happen for God’s will to be done in my life. I have to clear out my agenda and ask God an open-ended question: “What do You want me to do, Lord?”

Now I will warn you that it is very dangerous when you ask God this question and truly mean it. He will send something or someone your way that is absolutely amazing and generally completely out of your comfort zone. You must be ready to respond at a moments notice. The opportunity God places before you may pass if you don’t act quickly. I recall many lost choices over the years that I know were “God opportunities”, but I let them pass me by. I remember the invitation I turned down years ago to join a medical ministry in Jamaica led by a doctor and his wife who happened to be staying in the same Bed and Breakfast as my husband and I while we were vacationing in Kingston. I will never forget the chance given me by Padre Carollo to adopt an Ecuadorean orphan but I just didn’t think I could do it at that time in my life. Where would I be now if I had acted on these gifts placed before me?

Over my lifetime, I have said “no” to God’s direction many more times than I have said “yes” to Him. The wonder of it all is that God doesn’t give up on me. He continues to place His opportunities in front of me. As the Lord says in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you.” He knows where He wants me to be and has given me the talents and patience for the tasks at hand. His plans are always perfect. They are for my benefit as well as the benefit of all those around me. When I have made the decision to say “thy will, not mine, be done,” phenomenal things have happened. When God placed people in my pathway who led me to Shadrach, a great adventure began that I would never have imagined on my own. I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone but God was with me all the way. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Often I hear people say that they aren’t sure what God’s will is for their life so they don’t know what direction to move. I believe they will find their answer if they simply move forward in faith with what they do know. God will be faithful to reveal to them their direction as they need it. In my experience, God is continually throwing opportunity in my path and it is up to me whether to respond or not. The key is to keep trying your best to live a life of grace and love right where you are and be open to God’s Spirit. His will then has the opportunity to intersect with yours and something beautiful will be created. But you must have the courage to say yes.

These opportunities to do God’s will, most of the time will be small tasks. He may ask of you to offer a kind word or a smile to a stranger, a visit to a shut-in, or a meal for a homeless person. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you will recognize God working all around you and you can join in His work. This is God’s will. As it says in the book of Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” So every day be faithful in the small tasks. Someday God may ask you to work with Him on a large task. When Cori Tenboom and her family humbly worked in their clock shop in Holland, faithfully following God’s will in their lives, they were suddenly asked to step out for a large and dangerous task. They hid their Jewish friends and neighbors to save them from the invading Nazi’s. They risked their lives being obedient to God and eventually Cori, her father and her sister were sent to the concentration camps. Cori was the only survivor. Her story is chronicled in her book, “The Hiding Place.” Day by day, Cori and her family led lives of love and grace. When God’s call came to hide Jews in their home, they were ready to answer “yes” to Him.

Most of us will never be asked to risk as much as Cori Tenboom to carry out God’s will in our lives. But you never know what the future may hold. Be faithful in the little opportunities put in your pathway to show mercy, to act justly and to partner with God in His work. In this way, God’s will is truly accomplished on earth in every small act of love shown through the lives of each and every believer.