The song is written from Mary's point of view. As the mother of Jesus, she knew what she was getting herself into. The angel, Gabriel, told her exactly what was going to take place in Luke 1.
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Mary was a young, Jewish girl at this time. She was in a binding, committed relationship with a Jewish man. She was a virgin despite what modern wisdom wants to say. Girls of those days would have been stoned for what seems to be very common behavior in our times. She would have been frightened and confused. But, she trusted God that what He said would happen would come to pass.
I like to imagine her with Joseph walking or waddling, heavy with child, toward Bethlehem. Or maybe riding a donkey. They had to go to fulfill the census. She had no choice and thus she had plenty of time with her thoughts. There was no Facebook or Twitter to ask for prayer. There was an endless sky lit up with stars and a traveling companion. I imagine that she prayed, "Breath of Heaven(Holy Spirit), hold me together. Be forever near me, Breath of Heaven. Lighten my darkness, pour over me your holiness for you are holy, Breath of Heaven. Should You not have chosen someone wiser or older or more worthy of this plan? Are You sure this is what You want? Must I walk this path alone? Be with me now. Be with me now. This load I bear is to great but I offer all I am for the mercy of Your plan. Help me be strong. Help me be. Help me....."
Have you ever felt like this? Like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Dealing with illness, joblessness, divorce, wayward children, aging parents, hopelessness, family problems, financial strain, etc? Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, most likely felt that way, too. Have you ever cried out to the Lord but in your distress didn't know what to say.....Help me be strong, help me be...help me.....
Then, you are not alone. We have all been there at 1 time another. We are confused, lonely, sad, depressed, anxious, worn out, but not alone never alone. Romans 8:26 says,
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
God, Himself, in the form of the Holy Spirit lives in us and groans for us when we have no strength left to even speak. Take comfort, My Dear One. The Baby who lived in Mary left us a comforter when He ascended into Heaven.
Breath of Heaven, thank You for leaving us and for going into Heaven to make our needs known in words that we cannot even express. Help us to enjoy these weeks of Christmas! They are a time for us to reflect on what You did and not we've done! Thank You, Jesus!
Amen!
