John and Elizabeth, the faithful old barren priest-couple, their dreams for a houseful of children and grandchildren dashed and destroyed as birthdays and life changes overtook them.
Joseph the obedient-bent carpenter, his dreams of the simple, predictable life of work, hearth, and home shattered when the Angel revealed that his intended was carrying the Christ-Child.
Mary, the young innocent girl with a heart full of trust, her dreams for quiet marriage and family radically altered by the Angel-visitor’s message from God.
Mary’s parents… Joseph’s parents… family members… friends… onlookers… Though they listened to the testimonies of the messages of God delivered by divine interaction with these willing servants, they didn’t understand. Neither fully did the willing servants.
This was not the life any of them had planned for themselves, nor for their loved ones.
But it was God’s plan for their lives. And because of their trusting embrace, we are all saved.
If your life has not turned out as you planned… remember this, my friends:
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
And like Mary, may we respond to the unanticipated twists and turns on this earthly soil,
“Let it be done to me according to what You have said.” (Luke 1:38)
Let It Be To Me, O Lord
(an original poem)
Let it be to me, O Lord.
I give my plans to Thee, O Lord.
Your ways are more than I can know
My life – the stage, You – the Show.
Let it be to me, O Lord.It’s You, I need to see, O Lord.
So take my dreams, my best laid plans,
And do to me just as You’ve said.
Let it be to me, O Lord.
Let it be to me.
(c) Jennifer Crawford Walker
12-11-12
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