BETHANY BELUE|GUEST
When I was a child, our family would take long road trips in our brown-paneled Dodge Caravan. My sister and I each got our own row, and we would nestle down in our matching Care Bear sleeping bags, with all the snacks and activities a kid would want. My dad’s road trip tunes of choice, Barry Manilow, became the background music for our journey. It was the ideal family road trip setup. But no matter how many activities we played, how many snacks we ate, or how beautiful the scenery outside, I would always ask that question that sends a shiver up every parent’s spine, “Are we there yet?” Every trip is too long, and the destination is always better than the journey.
The Journeys of Life
As an adult, I still don’t like road trips, but I understand that to get to any destination there must be a journey. I thought about this as I recently celebrated my 40th birthday. I reflected on the past 20 years of my life and where the Lord has brought me. As a 20-year-old, I had big dreams for my life. I had a plan for marriage, children, career, and even where I would travel and when. I had no idea I wouldn’t meet my husband for 13 more years, or that I’d walk a road of infertility before becoming a mom 17 years later. I didn’t know my career would go in a completely different direction, that friends would pass away, that desires would go unmet, or that I’d receive gifts unimaginable.
I’m not alone in this. Luke 1 shares the story of two women with very different journeys. First, we see Elizabeth, who has been barren for many years and is past childbearing years. She then becomes pregnant with a baby who would prepare the way for Jesus, John the Baptist. Then there is Mary, who is young, unmarried, and a virgin. An angel appears to her and says she will carry the One who will reign over the house of Jacob forever (v. 33). Elizabeth is thrilled with Mary’s pregnancy, while Mary is understandably fearful. Yet her response to the angel is one of faith and obedience: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38). It is a simple yet profound response. She didn’t know what was to come, but she could trust the One who had ordained this plan from the beginning of time.
Neither Elizabeth nor Mary could have dreamed the story the Lord wrote for them and their children. We read throughout the Gospels about the ministry of John the Baptist and the way the Lord used him to declare the coming of the Savior and to call people to repentance and faith. Then Jesus, God’s own Son, was born to this young teenager who likely had very different plans for her life.
Reflecting on the Journey
Today, we see the big picture. We can see the purpose in the timing of Elizabeth’s pregnancy coinciding with Mary’s. We know why Jesus needed to be born—the Savior who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). This was His plan. John would later watch his mother die while Mary would watch her son hang from the cross and carry out the plan He had written long before time began. There was pain in both of their stories, yet there was also great purpose.
We can’t always see the story the Lord has for us. The Lord’s plan is always bigger than what we can see and is always better than we could have designed for ourselves. We all can look back through our lives and see pain and joy we would not have expected. We can see desires unmet as well as prayers answered in ways we could have imagined. We see and serve the same God of Elizabeth and Mary. We trust Him who had a great plan for their lives. We follow Him who had the greatest plan of all, to bring us a Savior to die for our sins and bring us home.
Our lives may often feel like a long road trip as we await our heavenly home, but what an incredible opportunity we have as women to walk with God and let Him guide us through uncertainty to security and peace in Him. He wrote a beautiful story for each of us. We may not understand it at times or know what is to come, but may we be willing to utter the words that a young Mary once did, “Let it be according to your word.” May we trust the One who is waiting for us at our destination and know that it is worth the journey.
