Tuesday, December 18, 2001
It's got to be the Christmas season--I can tell by the UPS trucks going up and down our street. This time of year, those drives are working real long hours and I mean, they are earning every dollar. They must collapse into bed at night. Course, the UPS driver's job could be worse. What if they had to shop for what's in that package, and buy it, and package it? Well, fortunately, it's not up to the UPS person to create the package--he or she only has to deliver it! Just like you and me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Delivering Someone Else's Packages."
Now in our word for today from the Christmas story, Mary is facing what seems to be Mission Impossible. Maybe you're facing one of those right now. Luke 1:31 is where it begins. The angel appears to Mary and says, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus."
Now, Mary has a very legitimate question about this assignment from God. Verse 34, "'How will this be?' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'" Mary can't see any way that the thing God wants to happen can happen. Again, maybe just like you. Now, "The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...Nothing is impossible with God.'"
Now it could be that you're facing something that simply cannot happen based on any human ability. It's financially impossible, relationally impossible, medically impossible. Whatever it is, you're asking the same question Mary asked, "How will...?" The answer? "He will." You don't have to be the answer, or create the answer, or scheme the answer. You are like the UPS man--you just deliver it.
You and I are God's instruments, no more and no less. The answer doesn't come from you--it comes through you. The solution is not man's invention. It's God's intervention. As long as you're trying to face this challenge with human calculations, you'll give up. You'll be overwhelmed. You'll panic. But in that first Christmas season, Mary found something better than overwhelmed--the angel called it overshadowed. "The power of the Most High will overshadow you." The impossibility of the situation brings you to a moment of total surrender--and you ask God for a total Holy Spirit takeover. And that totally rewrites the Mission Impossible equation.
God just wants to deliver His package through you. And when you know that you're only the delivery man or woman, you develop two powerful qualities. First, humility. When UPS delivers a package, you don't fall all over the driver with gratitude for this wonderful gift. All credit goes to the giver, not to the deliverer. If God is working through you, you'd better walk away from each victory saying, "Isn't He something!"--not "aren't I something!" All glory goes to the Giver.
Secondly, knowing you just deliver what God gives, provides you confidence. I can row into this storm because God's power is in control. I can dare to do this thing that is so much bigger than I am because God is so much bigger than it is. I can persevere through this dark time because God's answers will come through me, not from me.
So even if you're in the middle of a Mission Impossible right now, relax. "Nothing is impossible with God." He is not asking you to make it happen. Like Mary, God is just asking you to deliver the miracle that He is making happen.