The Heart of a Handmaiden

Only 9 days until Christmas! As Christmas gets closer, our to-do lists seem to grow longer and longer. There is the present-buying, the wrapping, the finishing up of cards and letters, menu planning, cooking and baking, and the attending all sorts of Christmas events, celebrations, and special services. If you are like me, it also seems to get harder and harder to focus on the reason for our Christmas celebrations. We find ourselves becoming more task-oriented than Christ-oriented. We are more concerned with "getting it done" than we are about why we are doing it.

In my quiet times, I have been enjoying once again reading about and reflecting on the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I especially have been focusing on Luke 1:38: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." 

When the angel of the Lord appeared to this young, poor, teenage girl and gave her the astounding news that she, a virgin, was going to conceive and give birth to a child who would be God's Son and the Savior of the world, I think that Mary's response was equally astounding. After her question in verse 34 of how this would be, which was a question of normal curiosity since she wasn't married, she doesn't ask any other questions! She doesn't ask how this was going to work with her relationship to Joseph or her parents. She doesn't ask how she would raise this child, or what it would mean to her future. She doesn't ask why she was chosen.

Instead, she says "yes" to the Lord. Not only does she say "yes," but she refers to herself as the "handmaid of the Lord."  In Bible times, the handmaid was the lowest of the female servants. Psalm 123:2 also mentions the handmaid. It is interesting because of what a handmaid did - she was given that name because she would sit quietly and wait for her master or mistress to give her orders by a slight motion of the hands. She had to be very attentive in order not to miss it. She would quickly and completely obey the orders of her master. How significant is was that Mary referred to herself to that "handmaiden of the Lord." She knew exactly what it meant and she was wiling to obey.

The angel of the Lord told Mary that she was "favored." We usually think of that as being a good thing. When Mary said "yes" to the Lord, she had no idea of the trials that awaited her. She had to endure the ridicule and gossip of being an unwed mother. She had to face the possibility of being left by her fiancee and disowned by her family. She would endure a treacherous trip to Bethlehem at the end of her pregnancy, and giving birth away from home in a dirty stable. She would have to flee to a foreign country with Joseph to protect Jesus. Most of all, she would have to suffer watching her Son suffer misunderstanding and hatred, and die a cruel death on a cross.

None of these things were what Mary had in mind when she said"yes" to God's will for her life. Like Mary, when we say "yes" to the Lord, we expect things to be different. We expect joy and blessings and ease - after all, we are submitting ourselves to the Lord. Instead, the reality is often very different than the expectations. This Christmas, in the middle of the busyness, I am contemplating what it means to have the heart of a handmaiden - and praying that I might be more like that.

Wishing you a joyous, and Christ-centered, Christmas!
Kathi