The Magnificat ~ Glorious Success in Broken Dreams

Its a lesson that we all learn very early on in life and, as we grow older, our understanding of this lesson only deepens:

No matter how thoroughly we plan, things rarely go the way we want them to. 

Robert Burns spoke the famous phrase, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." The author of Proverbs wrote, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (16:9)." January 1, 2015 my husband and I sat down and made a "bucket list" of things we wanted to accomplish this year. I don't remember many of them but on the top of the list were, "Have a Baby," and, "Go to Iowa for Christmas." Well, it's December and I'm not holding any of the sweet babies that have experienced their first heart beats in my womb. In addition, due to crazy unforeseen events, we will likely be home spending a little romantic Christmas with just the two of us. As the end of the year comes rushing over me I've been again struck by the fact that nothing has gone the way I expected this year. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the only thing on that list that actually happened was my husband's choice to go to school. Many times over the last year it has seemed that my circumstances were completely out of control. I've often sat back and wondered how on earth God could possibly be creating anything purposeful when it is evident to me that my life is pure chaos. 

With Christmas approaching my mind has been mulling over the age old Christmas story that I have heard since I was a child. The story in which an angel comes to an unsuspecting teenage girl and informs her that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. If I had to tell the story in a nutshell I'd typically say that there were some ups and downs in the story as Joseph originally made plans to divorce her and some crazed ruler tried to kill her toddler after He was born. Yet, in the end, everything turns out fine. The Christmas part of the story ends and, well....we won't talk about the rest of the story until Easter. But this year God has been impressing on me the reality that the Christmas story isn't really something that should be divided into a Christmas/Easter dichotomy. The Christmas story is actually one amazing story that should maybe have the title, "The Redemption Story." In addition, I've been very struck by a completely different perspective of The Redemption Story as I've looked at the entire story through the eyes of Mary the Mother of Jesus. Oh, what a story of broken dreams, shattered expectations, ridicule & grief. The story of a woman who had been promised by God that she would bear the Messiah only to watch one emotional earthquake after another rip through her life and demolish her expectations. A story which began with suspicion, was riddled with devastation, and ended with her Son dying in the most graphic and humiliating way possible. And yet, a story that we can look back on and see God sovereignly designing each event for the glorious success of His redemption plan.

The irony is found in a beautiful song of praise that Mary offers to God after receiving news from the angel Gabriel. It almost feels like one of those songs we sing out when we are confident that something wonderful is going to happen...and we think that it will happen exactly as we expect it to. Pain free and easy. Take a look:

"My soul magnifies the Lord, 

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and has exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent empty away.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy, 

as he spoke to our fathers, 

to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

Luke 1:47-55

(For a beautiful version of this song please click on the above link) 

Is everything that Mary said true? Absolutely. Did it come about the way she expected it to? I doubt it. Imagine this: Did it really seem that all generations were calling her "blessed" when her morality was continually called into question by skeptics over the remainder of her life? Did it really appear that God had done great things for her and brought down the mighty from their thrones when a power crazed king was trying to kill her child? And how could God have possibly shown His strength with His arm when His Son hung dying in agony on a cross? 

Can you relate? Do you know the feeling of watching your dreams for the future die? How about your reputation destroyed in seconds? Have you ever been accused unjustly of something? Have you had moments in which your faith was so shaken that you weren't sure you would stand? Possibly you too have watched your child die and experienced a grief you had never imagined possible. Maybe you are a Mary in the thick of trials and circumstances that appear to be accomplishing everything but God's plan. May I remind you that the "Christmas story" hasn't ended yet? You are a part of this redemption story and your trials and circumstances are sovereignly directed by a God whose mind we are incapable of understanding. It is vital that we, as believers, look at Mary's story and understand that it is our story. Regardless of how chaotic our circumstances look God was and is successfully accomplishing the same story of redemption that we see in Mary's magnificat. 

Over the course of this month I have planned to use this blog to pull apart Mary's life in light of her magnificat. I am hoping that the following blog posts will speak to many of you who feel as though your life is spinning out of control. I am hoping that you will be encouraged as you are reminded that our frail humanity limits us from seeing the full picture of what God is doing. Finally, I hope that you will be strengthened in your inner being as you see once again that God truly is at work for good on behalf of those who love Him. As Christmas approaches I challenge you to take a step back and be refreshed by the fact that your broken dreams are perfectly designed shards with which God is accomplishing a glorious masterpiece.  Over the next few weeks we will be specifically focusing on the fleshing out of this truth, but I would ask you to begin now mulling on these questions as I have. In the midst of your pain focus on redemption and consider:

1) In the big picture of redemption what great things as God done for me?

2) In the midst of my human cravings for those things which I have lost, how has He filled the hungry with good things?

3) Though it seems as though mankind is abusing power and wreaking devastation, how has He brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate?

"For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, 'Surely I will bless you and multiply you. And thus, Abraham having patiently waited, obtained the promise... So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that...we who have fled for refuge might have a strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf..." (Hebrews 6:13-20)