By: Lill Kohler

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” (CSB) (BC 760-698)

Daniel 9:25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks… but in difficult times.” (CSB) (606-534 BC)

Matthew 1:18, 25 “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was stilla virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. …But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.” (NLT)

Luke 1:46-55 “…For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. …” (NLT)

For centuries the Hebrew community knew the Messiah was coming. Thanks to Daniel 9 they knew it was about the right time to see Him arrive. But they overlooked one aspect… the Messiah would be birthed from a virgin.

Yes, they read about it. But who thought such an unusual, unprecedented event could ever happen? Mary was asked by God to agree to this unthinkable thing.

Have you experienced that? Something that you never saw coming or even had as an unspoken desire? I have. And, just like Mary, I had to accept this request of God.

Mary’s prayer recorded in Luke 1:46-55 tells us she saw the long-term results because her trust was in the Lord. When I accepted the call to write a book, I knew God had a reason. I didn’t know what it was, but I had to trust He had a reason.

Sometimes Jesus may ask you to do something that is different – that makes you stand out from others, maybe even family members. It could be something small when compared to a virgin giving birth. But at the same time, it may feel very big to you.

Like Mary, we should trust the Lord to be with us in the fall out of following His request. Maybe, even be able to look ahead and realize there’s a long-range plan that follows accepting a difficult, miraculous request.

Food For Thought

Is God calling you to take an unexpected step?