Waiting

Mary did you know...

The more I hear this song, the more I like it.  As the lyrics played again last night, it struck me that Mary had to wait thirty whole years before she saw God finish the work He started.

...that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the angel's first appearance to Mary, and then again at the birth of her baby.  But then...nothing.  Life as usual.

The Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

What did Mary think as the years went by, as she and Joseph eeked out a living to feed and clothe their family?  What went through her mind as she taught her Spirit-conceived baby to walk and feed himself, just like any other baby conceived by man?

When you kiss your little Baby, you kissed the face of God...

What sort of future did Mary see for her boy as she watched her husband's skilled carpenter hands teach the family's livelihood to a set of awkward teenage hands?  Did she wonder about his future of public speaking as he taught his circle of peers in the dusty streets?  Or did he prefer the quiet and lonely comfort offered by wood, a hammer, and nails?

Mary did you know...

When her son became a man and joined the ranks of humble carpentry, did she start to question the events surrounding his birth?  Did she wonder if she heard wrong, believed wrong, misunderstood?  Did she start to question God and His plan?  Did she start to give up on hope for the miraculous and settle for ordinary instead?

...that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?


Or did Mary hold God to His promises?  For thirty uneventful years, did Mary trust God and believe unwaveringly that He would come through?  Did she pray "May it be as You have said" just as fervently in the third decade as she had when the angel first appeared?

The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great I Am.