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“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”I Sam 16: 7
Last weekend, our family was gathering outside, of course. I had poured a pot of tea, bought Christmas buns and gathered us together outside near our little bench. Folding chairs from inside our home gave everyone in our family a place to sit.
My darling little almost three year old granddaughter saw me coming with the tray and she ran toward me.
“I want to sit with you, Queenie. I want to sit in your lap.”
And she immediately crawled into the familiar space she belonged from so many times before and settled into my arms and began to chatter to me of all that was on her little heart.
I did not want her to be perfect or to work for my love. I wanted her to do exactly what she did—to want to be with me, to prefer me, to trust me. And so it is with God.
He wants our heart filled with love and desire and trust. So it was, I believe with Mary. Why was she favored? Because in the secret place of her life, I believe she loved God and it pleased Him.
"Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you." Luke 1:28
Throughout the ages, artists have tried to illustrate the mysterious moment when the angel of God came to Mary and announced God's favor with her. But I think even more than seeing what the scene looked like, I would love to know this: what kind of woman, living in the unseen moments of her everyday life, would find favor with God?
Oh, how I wish the words the angel said expressed how God felt about me! Would God see me as the kind of woman He would choose now to mother the most high God? By what means did she find favor, in the hidden moments of her life?
Mary lived in a tiny, obscure village amidst a humdrum life. Wheat was ground, bread was pounded out on wooden tables, crumbs were swept from the floor, children lovingly tended, mother and father presided over the home, the Shema was listened to every day over shared family meals, the Sabbath was kept. Mary lived in invisibility in the moments of an ordinary, obscure life, as far as anyone around her knew. And yet, in the quiet, faithful living of her life, God noticed her. God saw her, and she found favor and pleased His heart.
God always sees even when no one else is noticing.
Imagine being greeted by an angel, in the midst of a normal day, when no one else knew,--"Hail favored one."
What would he find you doing? Believing? Saying? Studying?
And then, "Mary, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God."
Really? She did not have a college degree or a ministry position or title and had never published a book or even spoken in the synagogue--and yet, in the midst of her quiet life, she had found favor with God.
We don't know every detail of Mary's life, and the Bible doesn't tell us exactly why He chose her. But there are clues. Being the mother of Jesus would require a tenacious, steady, engaged faith. As his mother, her own life would be in danger. Jesus would be pursued by a crazy king, and at every point, people would cast doubt on her irregular, fantastical story.
Like Mary, God is looking for our heart-love for Him, not our perfection. In the midst of invisibility and times when no one sees or knows what is going on in our lives, the stresses from challenging children, the loneliness of a struggling marriage, the cleaning up of one more mess amidst the crumbs of our life. Yet, God wants to companion us through these places and show us His love.
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