Luke 1- God and His Crazy, Wonderful Plans

I have recently realized that most of the time when I read about God, I am reading books written by current authors. And no doubt, some of these books are excellent and have deepened my faith and shaped my beliefs. I definitely think that God has used some of the books I’ve read to help me understand more about him and what he wants in my life. But I realized that while I always seem to be in the middle of a book about God or faith or Christianity, I am rarely in the middle of studying the Bible. I’m not sure why I do that, but I am ready to change it. So I’ve started reading through the book of Luke. I picked Luke at random, and I am going to write about my thoughts as I read through each chapter. So let’s get started with Luke 1.

At the very beginning Luke states that he is writing this narrative/orderly account to Theophilus, “so you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” We all hear and read so many things about what Jesus did or didn’t stand for and what Christians should or shouldn’t do, and so on. And in the midst of all that, it’s helpful and refreshing to look back at the gospels, at the accounts of what Jesus said and did. I’m seeing that when I combine this study with prayer, God is showing me so many things—things about his character, how he wants his followers to treat others—as well as leading me in certain directions and convicting me of certain things in my life.

This chapter talks about the foretelling of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. I thought it was interesting that John the Baptist’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were “old” and “advanced in years” when the angel told Zechariah, “Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” I wonder, at their age, if they had long since given up praying for children. I imagine most people would have, at some point, resigned themselves to the belief that God’s answer was no, and they would have stopped praying about it. Yet God was answering their prayer years down the road—even though it was possibly a prayer that hadn’t been prayed for quite some time—because he had a plan. I wonder what prayers I have prayed that God may answer years down the road, long after I’ve decided his answer must be no? God had a wonderful plan for Zechariah and his family, and I wonder what kind of plans God has for me and my family if we are patient and wait on his perfect timing?

When I got to the part of the chapter where the angel told Mary that she was going to have a baby, I was amazed at how calmly she appeared to take the news. I was young and unmarried when I got pregnant with my oldest child (and obviously not a virgin, so I knew it could happen)—and I freaked out. It was seriously hard news to accept. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be young, unmarried, and a virgin—yet find out that you were having a baby. But we don’t see Mary freak out (maybe she did and it’s just not in the Bible anywhere); instead she asks the obvious question, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” And after the angel explains, she says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” My prayer is that I will become more like Mary, accepting what God has planned for me and where he’s leading me, even if it sounds scary, impossible, or crazy. I am learning that at first glance, sometimes God’s plans do sound impossible and crazy—but they are so wonderful. I think I’ll take God’s "crazy" plans over my "sane" ones.