“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 1:30-33 (NLT)
I often wonder how Mary interpreted her pregnancy with Jesus. Did she dream of significant increase in worldly position and prominence as her son reigned over Israel forever? Did she have visions of an earthly kingdom, defined in greatness by mankind’s standards. Would she have have approached her pregnancy with such joy and anticipation if she knew that in 33 short years her beloved son would be brutally murdered because of jealously, fear, greed…sin?
Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite for most every Christian that I know because of the plans God has for us to give us a future and a hope. Many of us are surprised to learn that this plan had a 70 year birthing timeline. Did Mary understand? I don’t know. She did have faith to take another step each day into the marvelous, eternal plans that God had for her? God’s plans are likely not your plans and maybe not even your desires…they are better. Trust Him. Seek His Will for you in this season and seasons to come. They are marvelous, “…they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”