Am I the only one who isn’t fully convinced when confronted with God’s call upon our lives? I feel this especially when it seems bizarre and completely off the wall. Maybe you know yourself as a historian, an analyst, an engineer, or a lawyer and you have suddenly been called to work with children and youth, to teach in the inner city, to start a non-profit or to become and advocate for the least of these. Or maybe you’ve known yourself as limited by status, society and self-esteem, and you’ve suddenly been called to be a leader, a prophet, a reformer. “You have got to be kidding me! This is ridiculous! What is God thinking?”
Mary couldn’t outrun God’s plan for her. We could try, but it’s not very likely that we’ll succeed. Just as God found favor with Mary, God has found favor in us. We didn’t do anything for it; we didn’t seek it out. And, to borrow from Beyoncé, “we woke up like this:” blessed and highly favored. We have gifts and talents and abilities that often hide behind layers of constructs that deny us a clear view of who are really in and with: God.
This message is excerpted from “What Mary knew: You can’t outrun God” by Leila Ortiz in the December 2015 Gather magazine. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
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