And blessed is she that believeth, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Luke 1:45
Do you know the expression ‘put out the fleece’, and what it means? In the days of the judges, Israel came under the control of the Midianites because of their sin. As they suffered at the hands of their captors, the Israelites looked for a deliverer. God chose Gideon, who was a reluctant recruit. To make sure that the call from God was real, Gideon put a fleece out on the ground on a dewy night. In the morning, the fleece was dry although the ground was wet. Still unconvinced, Gideon put the fleece out again. This time, the ground stayed dry but the fleece was wet. God wanted Gideon to be sure, because until he was sure, he would not make a decisive and effective victor over the enemies of Israel. In our text today, God provided the words of Elisabeth as confirmation to Mary of God’s great purpose for her. God wants us all to be sure of His purposes.
Mary had just received her great announcement from Gabriel, and she was probably still trying to absorb its magnitude. Did she fully believe it? Probably, but God was going to give her the confirmation that she needed to settle her heart. The Holy Spirit moved Elisabeth to respond to Mary’s greeting with her words of confirmation. Never again did Mary have any doubts, as her response to Elizabeth indicates in the next ten verses. She fully accepted and embraced the great role that God had given her. Just as we should accept the roles that God gives us. God desires that we have the same confidence in His purposes for us as Mary had.
Granted, none of us will have a place in God’s purposes as great as Mary had, or even as Elisabeth had. Our piece of God’s great puzzle might be very small, and we might see it as insignificant. But we don’t know how God views it. And if He desires obedience from us, and has given us work to do, He will want us to be sure that it is His will. How does He give us this assurance? To begin, He gives us direction through His Word. If we seek His will, He will make it plain. Bible verses will speak directly to us to confirm God’s purposes. God also uses events and experiences to confirm His will. Events that others might see as coincidences line up in amazing ways to let us know that God is leading us into His purposes. And, just as Elisabeth provided confirmation to Mary, God will send His messengers to us with a word that endorses the conviction that He gave us. Sometimes it is just a conversation with a brother or sister. Sometimes it is a word given by a preacher from the platform at a conference or a message delivered by a local brother on a Sunday morning. But if we are listening, we will be given the word we need.
Wouldn’t it be great to be part of God’s great purposes? We will never know unless we move with confidence in His everyday purposes. – Jim MacIntosh