“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
- Luke 1:38
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him…”
- Matthew 1:24
Yesterday afternoon, as I was driving the 3 1/2 hours back home from a work-related conference, I found myself getting lost in some deep thoughts…
What if Mary and Joseph had said no?
What if Mary had heard the angel’s announcement and responded with, “That’s too much for me.”
What if Joseph had woken from his dream, rubbed his eyes, and decided, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
What if they had simply chosen the easier path, the more predictable life, the quieter road?
It’s almost unthinkable… yet it’s worth pondering.
Because Mary and Joseph weren’t superheroes.
They weren’t flawless.
They weren’t divine.
They were ordinary, everyday people living in an ordinary, everyday town.
Mary was a teenage girl preparing for a simple wedding.
Joseph was a carpenter planning a simple life.
Nothing in their resumés suggested “future earthly parents of the Messiah.”
They could have said no.
No to gossip.
No to the raised eyebrows.
No to the uncertainty.
No to the long road to Bethlehem.
No to the manger.
No to God’s disruption of their tidy plans.
But instead—Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
Joseph “did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.”
They said yes.
And with that yes, the course of human history turned.
Salvation entered the world wrapped in swaddling cloths.
Heaven touched earth through the obedience of two humble hearts who trusted God more than they trusted their own comfort.
And here we are, some two thousand years later, celebrating a Savior born because two people believed God could do what He said He would do.
But here’s the part that hits close to home:
God still asks His people to say yes.
Maybe not to carry the Christ Child…
Maybe not to raise the Son of God…
But He does ask us—daily—to trust Him, follow Him, and obey Him even when the path looks uncertain, uncomfortable, or misunderstood.
Our yes may not shake the world… but it may change someone’s world.
Our yes may not make headlines… but it may make heaven rejoice.
Our yes may feel small… but God has a habit of doing eternity-sized things through obedient hearts.
So today, let’s ask ourselves:
Where is God asking me to say yes?
Where is He nudging my heart, calling me into something that stretches faith and rearranges comfort?
Mary and Joseph’s story teaches us this:
When God invites us into His plan, our yes matters more than we know.
May we answer like they did.
May we trust like they did.
May we say yes… even before we see the full picture.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
