TEXT:
‘Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often’ (Luke 2:19 NLT)
THOUGHT:
Today’s Teaching centres on two questions. Firstly, “What is God saying in the midst of this Coronavirus?” Secondly, “Will the Coronavirus nullify what God has said in the past?” I want to encourage you to do what Mary did. What God said or is now saying, hide it in your heart and think it over. Let it become part of you, for if God has really said it, it will surely come to pass.
- Learn to accept not reject
When Gabriel announced to Mary she would have a baby, her first response was, “How could this happen, since I am a virgin and unmarried?”1 Then she replied, “Let it be to me according to your word.”2 After Jesus was born, excited shepherds arrived at the stable telling everyone about their encounter with angels.3 Mary’s response was to keep these things in her heart. She was hiding God’s word on the inside. When Jesus was twelve years old, He was taken to Jerusalem. Instead of returning with His family, He stayed on. After a frantic three day search, they found Him in the temple talking with the religious teachers.4 Mary did not understand why Jesus said He had done that, but she kept His reply hidden in her heart and often thought about it. When things happen you do not understand, do not just dismiss them. Instead, think about them and ask God for understanding.
- Circumstances do not nullify God’s promises
When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem, they met Simeon who said to Mary, “A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel.”5 She must have remembered those words when she saw Jesus crucified. Was that the end of God’s promise? No, it was perfectly in line with His will and just three days later she was rejoicing over her resurrected Son!
What God says to you, He does so knowing the future! God’s promises are dependent primarily on Him and not on us. We blot our copybook and think it is all over. God could not possibly use me now and fulfil His promise! But when God spoke to you, He knew all about your future failings and still chose to make that promise to you.
In the midst of a great storm, when all hope of being saved was gone, God reminded Paul he would get to Rome and appear before Caesar. So he could stand up and say, “Cheer up, I believe it will be just as God told me.”6
Do you fear the Coronavirus will so change life as you know it, that the excitement you had for the future is now gone and your dreams along with it? God knew about this pandemic long before you did, yet He still made that promise to you! There is a great line in the worship song, “Rattle” by Elevation Worship. It says, “But since when has impossible ever stopped You!” That’s the God we love and serve.
- We need to wonder at God’s ability, not wonder if He can still do it
Each of us can pray this prayer right now, “God, circumstances have changed life but not You! I believe that You will honour the promises You made to me”. When Joseph told his father and brothers about his amazing dreams, they all ridiculed him, but the Bible says also, “Jacob gave it quite a bit of thought and wondered what it all meant.”7 Ending up as a slave and then in prison, Joseph probably thought that was the end of God’s promise, but the promise is dependent on God, not our circumstances.
Daniel has amazing revelations from God as to future world empires. When he did not understand everything, he kept the matter in his heart.8
Do not be too quick to tell everyone what you think God has said. Hide it in your heart for a while. Make sure it is God who has spoken to you, especially if it is to do with the Coronavirus. Once you are sure then remind God of what He has said. You can then keep doing that until it is time for that word to be fulfilled. Thank Him that circumstances may change, your own natural abilities may deteriorate, but God remains the same and will watch over that word to bring it to pass.
What a joy to receive the same commendation from the Lord, as when Elizabeth prophesied to Mary. “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”9
Endnotes:
1 Luke 1:34
2 Luke 1:38
3 Luke 2:1-20
4 Luke 2:41-51
5 Luke 2:34-35
6 Acts 27:22-25
7 Genesis 37:5-11
8 Daniel 7:28
9 Luke 1:45
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