Part Of The Plan
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Luke 1:26-33
When my first girlfriend broke up with me, I was heartbroken. I was sure that somehow, I would figure out a way to get her back. Of course, that never happened. However, someone would take her place, and then, I met the person who would later become Ms. Williams two months later. As I think back on things, I realized that this was not a coincidence. It was all part of God’s plan. That gives me a sense of calm and ease. I must admit that I did not necessarily have ten grandchildren on my bingo card of life, but they all give me a profound sense of joy and purpose. One of my favorite movies has this great line where the villain says, “You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan."” Although I am not comparing my meeting Loretta with the love story God has with us. I do want to bring up that it, like every connection in our lives, is part of a grander and much bigger plan.
God’s plan always works. In our love story, we have found that God, our creator, has great love for us. Then, we fell by giving in to sin, and no matter how hard we tried and how big our heart for Him may be, we all fell short of His glory. So, God had a plan. Keep in mind that as I say this, I realize that God always had a plan because He knows everything. So, what I mean to say is I have come to discover a big part of God’s plan. Realizing we were beyond reach because of sin and He loved us so much, He sent Jesus Christ. In reading the first chapter of Luke, I love how it narrates the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, where he foretells of the coming of Jesus saying, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) We know that Jesus is our savior. We also know that we do not deserve Him. So why would God choose to give us someone that we neither deserved nor were worthy of as a savior. Because He loves us, and once more, this is a love story. Jesus said, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) You see, God has always wanted us, and He sees us as His most valued possession. That is what makes this love story so amazing. We did not earn it or deserve it. And yet, we are overwhelmed by its powerful, transformative, and merciful message. We are valuable to Him even when we ourselves cannot see it. How? I’ll save that for the final installment.
Having God love us the way He does is simply the best thing in this world. We may know what it truly means to love someone like God love us, but in that love for others, we start to understand conceptually that God’s love is even greater than that! Let us rejoice that we have been given such favor realizing that no matter how much we may love Him, He loves us so much more. How does it change your perspective knowing how loved you are by God? What can you do to show greater love to Him and your fellow neighbor? My prayer is that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this weekend, we take special note that in our love story, it is all part of the plan. Amen, and Merry Christmas!