Do you have “Find a Friend” on your phone? It can’t help us make new friends. But if we have friends and they have their phones, we can find out where they are. This is how Melanie and I know that our kids have left their houses and are getting close to Houston. It is also how Melanie finds me when I go out to exercise in the park. God does not have this app, because he does not need it.
God will find us when he wants to find us. After Gabriel found Zechariah in the temple, he found Mary in the relatively obscure town of Nazareth. He greeted her by telling her she was highly favored because the Lord was with her. Mary was likely not expecting to be found. She wondered in fear. First the angel calmed her fears. Then he told her she was going to have a son named Jesus. Her son would be called great, the Son of the Most High, and his reign would last forever.
God was on the move. Literally, the Son was moving from heaven all the way to Nazareth. Jesus came into the world through a door marked, “No entrance.” Mary could not have a child except for God’s miraculous intervention. When she wondered how she would have a child, she was told, “No word from God will ever fail.” Later, Jesus would leave the tomb through a door marked, “No exit.”
Why did God choose Mary out of all the women who had ever lived? Her answer gives us a glimpse of her heart. She surrendered unconditionally to God’s will. She knew she was the Lord’s servant. “May your word to me be fulfilled,” she said.
One proviso about our Find a Friend app. It can be disabled. We don’t have to be found, if we don’t want to be. But God can always find us. When he does, will he find us in a posture of surrender or rebellion? Do not be afraid to surrender completely to God’s will today. He not only knows where we are, but he knows what he is doing. Trust him. Completely. Now.
