One of the greatest pleasures of my life is to serve God working full-time in ministry. However, sometimes ministry gets really exhausting, and the heaviness of it drains my soul. When this happens, it doesn’t take long for the Holy Spirit to remind me that ministry isn’t supposed to be easy, and that a servant must be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of others. Throughout the Scriptures we find many examples of people who willingly embraced a life of sacrificial servanthood, people like Noah, Moses, and Paul. Today, I want to talk about someone even more special, someone who as a teenager was approached by an angel in the most fascinating way: “Greetings, O favored one” (Luke 1:28). I’m talking about Mary.
According to the gospels, Mary was a sweet teenage virgin who once was called to serve God in the most extraordinary task, to bear the Son of God, and yet after she received the invitation to do so, she answered in the most fascinating and positive way, she said: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). To be honest, every time I read Mary’s answer to the angel, I’m very inspired by her obedience and submissiveness to God. I mean, her response makes evident that she was ok with giving up her reputation, her dreams, and her plans, for something that was inconceivable to her.
The question is, why? Why would someone be willing to give up everything for a life of servanthood. One of the answers that comes to mind is that Mary knew that God’s “Comfort and Joy” are not found in the vanities of life, but in surrendering oneself to the eternal purposes of God. Mary wanted to live out this truth, and as a result, she became a beautiful model for her children, including Jesus, of what it means to be a real servant of God. Now certainly, she experienced the uneasiness of servanthood, but she also got to experience the beautiful reward of her service: Jesus.
The lesson for us is to remember that there is nothing more fulfilling in life than to live for the glory of God and enjoy the company of our Savior, especially when challenging times arrive, for only in Him do we find our “Comfort and Joy.”
Pastor Esteban Tapia
Spanish Language Ministry