Introduction to this Devotional

When I say I love Christmas - I love Christmas. I think we use the expression "It's a Christmas miracle!" without realising it could be less 'Hallmark' and more Holy Spirit-inspired. Christmas to me feels like a 'thin place,' but as a time of year instead of a physical place. Like Heaven is particularly accessible, or reaching out and touching God feels so much closer. Like anything is possible.

"Emmanuel" is one of my favourite titles of the Lord. "God with us." It says it all. He is not a distant God or a disinterested God. He is a God who came close enough to touch. He was, and is, with us.

This nine-day devotional is designed to point out things we might have missed about the Christmas story, whether like me, this is your 33rd Christmas, or 14th, or 85th. It's still relevant to our lives. I hope the Christmas season becomes a 'thin place' for you, too.

Day 1: Mary's Fiat (Say Yes to God)

My Almost No

It took me months to say 'yes' to God. Not the 'yes' of welcoming Him into my heart, but to say 'yes' to His call on my life to travel the world and speak.

If you think that public speaking is something that came easily to me, you're wrong! You're talking to the girl who cried from fear in high school during speech assignments, and who lay awake at night for two weeks with adrenaline pumping, finding out about a preaching assignment in ministry college...a year away.

And so, when God asked me if I would say 'yes' to a public speaking ministry, I didn't say yes straight away. I thought about it for months before I answered Him. I didn't want to say 'yes' and then take it back. So I really wrestled with it! I even asked God if He could choose someone else. But the night before walking out onto a stage, I finally gave Him my 'yes.' He is free to use my life in this way, however He likes, for as long as He likes.

Mary's Yes

When I think of men and women who have run the race of life and faith before me, and have done it well and in a way I want to draw from and imitate, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is one of the first people I think of.

Imagine you are living out your very ordinary, safe life, and one day God radically interrupts it. He asks you to go somewhere, do something, give your life to serve the Lord in a way which may cost your life, and would destroy your reputation.

Would you want to say yes? How long would it take you to give God your yes? Would you hesitate? As I shared...it took me months to give God my 'yes' for a preaching ministry.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her she would be the Mother of God, the reality is that she could have said no. Free will is a gift the Lord has given us to make our love real. He doesn't control us, force us to love and obey Him. That's not love - that's manipulation. We are able to decide how we respond to His love.

Mary could have said no, but instead she responded with her 'fiat' ('let it be to me according to your word' - Lk 1:38). She gave the Lord her entire life to be used by Him however He wanted.

Mary was a normal girl. If she can do it, we can too.

Your Life Today

If God asks you to give up the job and pursue another career, or move to another city or nation, or pursue the vocation He invites you to, or stand up for what you believe in, even if you will be humiliated - will you have the courage to say Yes to God too?