Below is a post from Heather B. Iseminger, Chaplain for the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Let her words bless you as they blessed me.

Lights of Christmas illuminate the eves of homes and twinkle on evergreen branches in living rooms. Candles flicker as carols softly play in the background. But even while sipping hot chocolate sprinkled with peppermint, I find myself grasping to find the Christmas spirit.

It evades my heart.

In a personal season of chaotic to-do lists and ever-increasing responsibilities, I keep hoping for just a sliver of the peace we talk about while celebrating the birth of the Christ-child—God with us. A deep sigh escapes as I wonder where I’ve gone wrong, at what point did I stray from the path of joy.

Yet, in my grasping, God is still good.

He whispers one phrase into my ear over and over again. Mary said yes.

These three words

These three words have called to my heart throughout the last several Christmas seasons and beyond. I hear them in the baking of cookies, in the writing of exams, in the grading of essays, in the care and keeping of my family.

Mary said yes.

She boldly proclaims a resounding yes to the Father.

The mystery of her words, her uttered obedience without hesitation, her intense willingness to follow God in selfless devotion. I am inspired, and yet, also left feeling inadequate. How am I ever supposed to measure up?

Do you struggle to find the Christmas Spirit? Maybe you could shift your priorities from no to yes? That's what Mary did. Share on X

It’s not that the men and women of Scripture are there to be our yardsticks of obedience and dedication. No. They were sinful, too. But theirs is also the legacy God used to bring us His Gospel. I look to the examples of these humans, with their flaws and faith, to help guide my choices.

But how?

Mary’s yes often leaves me wondering how. How did she have the courage, the boldness, the conviction to agree to a task that could have left her outcast, without a husband, and even dead? Why was she able to give herself so freely and with such joy?

Because this was not Mary’s first yes to our God.

This single truth changes everything. We don’t get a glimpse of the full breadth of Mary’s life in the Bible, nor can we pull back the curtain on her daily sweeping of dirt floors and rolling out each morning’s bread. But we do know she loved her Creator. A living, breathing relationship with her heavenly Father is evident in her response.

She sings a song of praise to God—one that shows us her deep devotion to Him and her understanding of Jewish history. This young girl was a servant of the Heavenly Father. She must have said a thousand yeses to God before Gabriel approached her.

Maybe they were simple yeses, like not fighting with siblings or choosing contentment over grumbling as she did chores. Simple, everyday acts of obedience added up over the years of her young life—slowly preparing her to say one of the biggest yeses of Scripture.

So Mary teaches me. She teaches us.

If we aren’t walking obediently in the small, simple ways of God, we are failing to prepare our hearts for the incredible ways God wants to use us. Far too often I am worried about what God may ask of me in the days to come instead of what God is asking me to do in this moment. The one I’m sitting in right now. I ignore countless opportunities to lean into Emmanuel. I give Him thousands of excuses in my exhaustion and my choices. Yet, if I practiced the intentional yes of making God my priority, I would better understand the how of Mary’s yes.

… if I practiced the intentional yes of making God my priority, I would better understand the how of Mary’s yes.

And in the practice of yes, maybe, just maybe grasping hold of Christmas wouldn’t be as difficult as I make it out to be. Because when I am walking side-by-side with Him, it is His peace, His joy, His love, His hope that sustains me. Even in the chaos, the darkness, the days of grief.

The truth is, Christmas exists every single day. Whether I feel it or not.

Mary reminds me that Christmas came in the form of a babe so small to give us the chance, the opportunity, to say yes—to say yes to the most incredible gift mankind has ever known.

As we pray this month for each other, may we graft ourselves into the Living Word and ask, “What am I doing right now to say yes to my Father?”

1 Comment

The Conversation

1. Gilbert Klingen Smith says:

   December 6, 2023 at 1:16 am

   YES, PLEASE PROCEED.

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