I​ am in my office looking out the window. The sun is rising, and it looks like it’s going to be a beatiful December day. As I stare out at the blue sky, thanking God for another day, there is a pang in my heart as I think of changes that will be taking place. Not bad changes; just big ones.

S​ince it’s the Christmas season, I wonder about Mary and what it must have been like for her when the angel told her she’d be carrying the Son of God in her womb. Talk about big life changes!

B​ut her response reveals why God favored her: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

S​he was a virgin with a fiance. She didn’t ask, “But what about Joseph? He won’t want to marry me. What about my reputation? People will look down on me.” I’m certain these thoughts passed through her mind not long after receiving the good news, but she didn’t question God. Mary knew she was a servant and was part of God’s divine plan. And so she carried out God’s plan giving all the glory to Him.

Y​ou have also been chosen to take part in God’s plan, and it may mean making big sacrfices. It certainly did for Mary. She didn’t know that she would end up giving birth without a midwife or her family around her. She didn’t know that her child would be born in the humblest of places like a manger. She didn’t know that she would watch her child suffer and die on the cross.

A​s I’m going through all the “what ifs” preparing for our next chapter, there is so much I don’t know. But I want to walk by faith like Mary did where I can say, “Let it be” and know that God has a divine plan that He’s calling me to be a part of.