We are not done with Mary! How could we? There is so much to learn from The Woman who hosted The Christ in her womb.

But beyond her capacity to host Jesus in her womb! We see some other remarkable things to glean from the life of Mary. Today, we will be examining just one of those maverick qualities. I believe we will find this to be useful in our Christian experience.

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” — Luke 1:38 KJV

One thing Mary showed humanity is that There is Strength in Submission.
From the very beginning of this remarkable story, when Gabriel visited Mary with an impossible and near “insane” (in human terms) salutation, the posture of Mary’s attitude was “Be it unto me according to thy Word”.

What? Be it unto who? According to what? Do you realize you still have your whole life ahead of you? Do you know how many girls drop out of school every year due to unwanted pregnancies? Do you know it’s now 5 times as hard to get a husband when you already have a child out of wedlock? There are enough truly single ladies out there without a husband, and then you, a not too single mother of an unwanted child, and you think you will have any chance at marriage?

How did these thoughts not cross Mary’s mind? Or how could she have imagined all these and gone ahead with that “naive” response to Angel Gabriel? Or maybe they did cross her mind and she subjected them in obedience to the supreme order of God’s Word. What a young lady! She jettisoned her life, in order to host The Life Himself. Indeed, the cost of hosting Life is Death! Mary died the day she said, “Be it unto me”. Her life was never going to be the same again.

Submission has a way of optimizing the capacity of our Faith. “Be it unto me” was her response in the front end but in the back end (what we see is The Holy Ghost overshadowing her, the power of the highest coming upon her and The Holy Seed being implanted in her. The protocol of Elijah was activated in Elizabeth 6 months before; Simeone’s life was prolonged to prophesy over the Salvation of Israel wrapped in a swaddle; Anna for 84 years had been praying for the manifestation of the Consolation of Israel; the minor and major prophets had prophesied; Isaiah had foretold that a Virgin would conceive; David had spoken of his Life, Ministry and eventual Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection; The wars and battles of Nations ensued to purge the remnant that would host This Seed; Moses had lifted up a rod with a serpent in the wilderness signifying the manner of death The Christ would die; The Father had predetermined His first coming in the Garden where it all began…)

Now that is the back end! But here we see a Young Virgin, completely oblivious of the immensity of the genealogy, the prophecy, and ultimately the urgency of the hour she now lived and how her response could tip the scale of balance one way or another… yet in her oblivion, she mustered every ounce of Faith in her at that moment. In that instant, that phrase of submission, opened up the portals of possibilities and woooosh, a human vessel was invaded by The Godhead, and The Godhead was enclosed by human flesh. Such a mystery! How did we get here?

Be it unto me!

Too many times, I think we try too hard to understand every dimension of the links in the chain leading up to our showing up. The story does not begin with us. We would go as far back as at least 4000 years before Mary, in order to see the Purpose for which Mary was born! Our myopia sometimes gets the better part of us. How far backwards do you really have to go before you understand, before you submit? By the time you’re done understanding, maybe Jesus is in Gethsemane already. God had moved over to someone who simply believed in submission while you were still doubting in contemplation.

Many times, we are at the precipice of something huge and much bigger than anyone of us, yet we get to such moments, right in front of the One Who time has got nothing on, and we think the grey matter between our ears is what must first be satisfied with sufficient reasons before we move in Faith? Arguments, unbelief are not comely in such a scene. Only Obedience, Faith and Submission are to be seen.

This is what Mary had.

Remember when she beckoned on Jesus at the wedding at Cana? She gave the servants such a profound counsel. One in which a lot of believers still struggle with till today… “Whatever He tells you to do… do it!” Ever wondered how she knew that code of Faith? Her whole world changed when she submitted to the Father’s Will following the strange salutation of Gabriel.

Your Understanding can hinder your Advancing when you place it before your Faith! Here in the Kingdom, it is By Faith we understand and not the other way around.

May the Lord grant you discernment to know the moments to seize without questions and those to question without seizing! Amen
Enjoy the rest of your week.

Dami Oguntunde
@damioguntunde