A Mission Greatly Trusted

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31).

When we are given a mission, we often have this romanticized picture in our heads about what that means. If someone were to say, “I have a very important mission for you,” we might think of the Hollywood, classic version of being sent on an important mission where characters are given important messages and they travel long distances to deliver a letter or important news. They reach their destination just in the nick of time, save the day, and the film ends with everyone feasting in celebration because of that character’s brave and glorious journey.

But when it comes to real life, our messages are anything but a glorious journey.

When the Lord entrusted the gift of Jesus to Mary, it was not a mission that many people would have been eager to have. Mary was a virgin carrying a baby. Although she knew she’d have to carry the emblem of shame while carrying the Son of God, Mary willingly accepted the responsibility, saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38).

When the Lord gives you a mission, it might not be something the world, or even fellow Christians, will commend you for. It might be a task that makes no sense to anyone else—one where people will look at you sideways and talk behind your back. The people didn’t understand the glory of Mary’s mission—they had no idea that her baby would be the Savior of the world and would die in their place to save them from sin.

They didn’t understand, and the people around you might not understand your purpose either. But when God trusts you to carry out a mission, there are reasons for it that far exceed what we can see in the present.

We win every time with God because He wins in the end. Because of His Word, we already know the ending of our story. Therefore, we can trust that whatever He’s asking of us, He’s already seen it through with us. He exists outside of our tiny perception of time and space, so even though we can’t know the magnitude of where our obedience will lead, we know that with Him, we’ll never lose.

It costs us to follow Jesus. He promised us that it would, but even if your family and your friends think you’re crazy and you know that no one is going to pat you on the back, God remembers your willful heart. Mary knew that, one day, it would all make sense, and the mission would be worth the hardship. May we remember that truth too as we obediently follow whatever mission the Lord gives us.