Mary’s Yes: Trusting God Through Unexpected Plot Twists

We know the plot twist and how it ends. She didn't. She didn't get clarity in this moment, but she did get a calling. She was a girl with a plan and God interrupted it, and just as Proverbs reminds us, many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Mary's story shows us that God's purposes aren't thwarted by our plans; they often rewrite them in more ways that are beautiful, even more beautiful than we could imagine. [00:43:37] (33 seconds)  #PurposeOverPlans

It's exactly where the beauty lies in Luke's gospel. God reverses our expectations, lifting the lowly, choosing the overlooked, rewriting stories in a way that no one saw coming. Mary's plot twist doesn't break God's patterns; it actually reveals them. So when heaven breaks into her ordinary life, Mary is startled: greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you. Highly favored means graced, not because of who or what Mary had done, but because of what God was going to do through her. [00:48:14] (43 seconds)  #GodLiftsTheLowly

God with us, being favored by God doesn't mean ease, it means being invited into a story that's going to stretch you and transform you. So how could Mary say yes to something so costly, so confusing, so disruptive? The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, for no word from God will ever fail. And that made all the difference. Mary recognized that voice—this was the God who had kept his promises to Hannah and to David and to her people. [00:54:23] (38 seconds)  #TransformedByGrace

Her faith didn't ease her fear, her faith actually carried her through it. She didn't feel ready, and she didn't wait to feel ready. She said yes in the middle of the unknown because she trusted the one who was asking. [00:55:02] (15 seconds)  #YesInTheUnknown

``Mary's yes didn't just change her life, it opened the door of hope to the world. And today, as we enter Advent, we follow Mary's lead. We light the candle of hope, remembering that even when we cannot see the whole plan, even when the future feels really uncertain, God keeps his word. His light still breaks in ordinary places. His hope is still for us. [00:55:30] (37 seconds)  #MarysYesHope

Mary's story doesn't stop here. Her yes becomes the posture of her life. She said yes in Bethlehem when there was no room. She said yes in the temple when Simeon prophesied sorrow. She said yes when Jesus stayed behind at 12 years old. She said yes at Cana, at the cross, in the upper room, and at every turn she had to choose: will I trust, will I surrender, will I say yes again? [00:56:13] (37 seconds)  #YesAsALifestyle

We can discern God's hand by remembering how he works and how faithfully he speaks. And here's where Mary's story stops being history and becomes an invitation, because the same God who was calling her is calling us. The same Spirit who overshadowed Mary now lives in every believer. We too are called to carry Christ into the world, into our workplaces, our families, our friendships, our neighborhoods. [00:57:21] (30 seconds)  #CarryChristEverywhere

Some twists were joyful, some were confusing, and some honestly brought me to my knees with a "really, Lord?" But all of them taught me to loosen my grip, to trust that when my plans fall apart, God's purposes never do. So let me ask you something, not in theory but in the real details of your December: this week you're going to go back into familiar spaces with familiar stories and traditions, you're going to stare at a calendar that might look a little bit like mine. [00:58:55] (32 seconds)  #LoosenYourGrip

You're going to go back to your offices, classrooms, kitchens, gym bleachers, places that might seem like Nazareth, and some of you will face interruptions you didn't plan for, and others are working through getting clarity on something that seems very cloudy right now, and you have questions. And in all of that, Mary's story is whispering the same invitation: when God shows up in ordinary places, when he interrupts what we have planned, when he invites us to trust without clarity, the invitation is the same as it was for Mary—to say yes, not once, but again and again. [00:59:29] (43 seconds)  #FaithInOrdinaryPlaces

If you're here this morning and you're still discovering who Jesus is, this invitation is for you too. He meets us right where we're at, wherever we are in the story. As we begin Advent, this is my prayer: that we would say yes, that we would hold our hands open. God is not looking for perfection, he is looking for willingness. And when the plot twists come—and friends, they will—we don't need to know the ending, we just need to know the one who's writing the story. [01:00:13] (32 seconds)  #SayYesToJesus