Facing loneliness and rejection - Monday Moments with God

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.” Luke 1:46-47, 49 KJV

My Dear Child,

No matter what yo are going through today, please consider this: Many of my children have experienced loneliness and rejection.

Though my human mother, Mary, is held in a place of esteem by you, things were not easy for her. She was frightened when the angel, Gabriel, came and gave her the news that she had been chosen to be my mother. Yet she responded by accepting it as the will of my Father - a great honor for a humble maiden such as she was.
But saying yes to God plunged her into a dark time of loneliness and hurt. No one believed her when she told them about the angel's message. Her family, friends and even her fiance, Joseph, believed she had been promiscuous.

In his hurt over her supposed unfaithfulness, he made up his mind to break up with her. Still he was compassionate and decided to do it privately rather than putting her to shame with a public trial. At the very least she would be shunned for her shameful behavior, forced to live alone and be considered unmarriageable. Or she could face the worst possible punishment if the elders chose to make her a public example - death by stoning.

Feeling the sting of being ostracized by her family and the pain of rejection from Joseph, she went to stay with her cousin, Elizabeth, who was also with child. But Elizabeth's reaction to the young woman's pregnancy surprised Mary, because her cousin affirmed the truth of it!

Elizabeth gave her the support she needed during the crucial early months of her pregnancy. And by the time she returned home, Joseph's heart had been changed toward her because of a direct message from my Father in a dream.

I will never leave you totally alone to face life's difficulties on your own. I will bring others along side you to help, comfort, guide and encourage you. I will be there too, living inside you as our relationship grows each day.

Take time to magnify me because I am working in your life for your benefit and spiritual growth. I love you and I have a plan for you - far greater than anything you can imagine.

Love,
Jesus

Matthew 1, Luke 1-2

Christmas Special

 During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord is with you; you are very special to him.”” Luke 1:26-28 ERV

Have you ever wanted to be "special" to someone?

For those of us who are people-pleasers, it probably meant we worked overtime to get someone's attention and then worked equally hard to make ourselves indispensable to them. The only thing we strove for was to hear that elusive complement or affirmation that we were valuable and loved.
Sometimes it worked - we received the affirmations we needed. Other times, people walked all over us, taking advantage of our neediness without providing the positive affirmation we so desperately wanted. Been there and done that....

But imagine for a moment having the God of the universe send an angel to you to tell you that you were "special" to him and he had a job for you.

Mary wasn't anyone important - she wasn't the daughter of a rich or important family, although she was a descendant of King David as Luke points out in his gospel. But her family was as poor and nondescript as most of the families in the land of Judah at that time. She had never done anything to stand out in a crowd to attract God's favor. She was a normal Jewish girl.
So why would God single her out?

1. She met the qualifications:
a. Family-wise, she was a direct descendant of King David. She was engaged to a man who was also from David’s direct line so there could be no doubt of the child’s family tree in the fulfillment of prophecy.
b. Physically, she was a virgin of child-bearing age, which fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus would be conceived miraculously.
c. Personality-wise, she was a courageous young woman, willing to do what God asked her, even if it meant being ostracized by her family and friends, and willing to face death if needed (to be an unwed and pregnant Jewish girl could mean a death by stoning).
d. Spiritually, she had the same tender heart toward God that her ancestor David had. She was yielded to God, willing to allow him to do whatever he wanted with her life.

Sure she had some doubts and fears about everything. Who wouldn't? But her heart was right.
Like Mary, God is seeking us out to be part of his family - not because we are "special" or good enough or important enough. No. He's seeking us out because he made us and he wants us to be a part of his family. Because of that, he works with us, making us special and polishing the uniqueness that he placed in us - our talents, abilities and those other great things we didn't know we possessed.

He seeks us out because he loves us. His love makes us special to him; it's not about anything we can do for him.

It took me a long time to understand and accept that - and actually, I'm still working on it since the people-pleasing parts of my personality were cast in concrete during my formative years. But the journey has been invigorating and blessed!

I'm inviting you to join me on this journey. Let Jesus show you how special you are to him - not because of who or what you are; not because of anything you've done; but because you are His!

Amen.