Hey Mama Monday: Mama, Have the Strength to Say “Yes, Lord”
Will this be a difficult Christmas season? Are you missing a loved one? Are you in painful circumstances? Are you uncertain of the future? Are you praying for help or healing or wholeness?
In seasons of joy or seasons of pain, in seasons of uncertainty, anxiety, or seasons of provision—I want to have the strength to always say, “Yes, Lord.” And I know you do, too. And it’s because we know our God is for us. His plans for us are good—because He is good.
Two women in the Bible, separated by many generations, each in a desperate situation, cry out from the depths of their soul. Their prayers are similar in their strength and depth of wisdom. Each knew something to be true in the midst of desperate times. They knew their God. They knew Him to be trustworthy and faithful. I mean, really knew Him so much so that they were able to rejoice in the midst of their unsettling life stories. They even begin their cry with praise.
Let’s look at Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and Mary, the mother of Jesus: two completely different anxious circumstances . . . the same faith-filled response.
As you read through the Christmas story in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 1, you will find Mary in a place of uncertainty; people may have misunderstood and even rejected her. And although Mary herself didn’t understand the full reality of what was happening, she must have had a close relationship with her God to be able to quickly respond, “Be it unto me according to your Word.” When Mary was with her cousin Elizabeth, what emerged from Mary was not anxiety or complaint but this beautiful prayer recorded in Luke 1:46-55:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. (. . . Read more)
This prayer is very similar to Hannah’s prayer when she is leaving her son, Samuel, in the temple to live. Can you imagine leaving your little boy in the hands of another? To be able to do this, Hannah, too, must have known her God to be One in Whom she could put her full trust when everything around her looked impossible. In her pained situation, Hannah had a living faith. Hear her heart cry in 1 Samuel 2 as she leaves her son:
My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. (. . . Read more)
May Hannah and Mary’s response be ours. May we know our God enough to be able to proclaim Who our God is, what He has done, and what He will do—even in the midst of uncertain times. May He be praised in the midst of it all!
Jesus, the Word that became flesh, longs to come to you and reveal Himself to you. He will show you that He is Holy and Righteous and Faithful. May our soul magnify and rejoice in the God of Christmas, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace: this Jesus that wants to dwell within us. May He be exalted in us.
A blessed CHRISTmas to you and your precious family from all of us at The Homeschool Minute and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor and Director of Production here at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She would say she is a very ordinary homeschool mom–with one exception: she has an extra-ordinary God Who provides all she needs for life and homeschooling. She has eight children aged 11 to 29. Deborah’s mission is this: to point other homeschoolers to the Lord in all they do, think, and feel—and to confirm that they, too, can find everything they need for life, godliness–and homeschooling–in their knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3, 4).
