Making Room in AdventSample

Making Room for Limits

In the incarnation, God chooses to breathe himself into dust. He chooses to take on the limits of our humanity. And he invites Mary into partnership by dwelling within her limits.

God has this huge plan to change all of history, but the way he invites Mary to participate in this work is different than what we might have expected.

He doesn’t ask her to do miracles.

He doesn’t ask her to get a theology degree.

He doesn’t expect her to be strong or smart or famous or able to multitask well.

He doesn’t ask her to be Superwoman and save the world. He has plans to do that himself.

God invites Mary into partnership by asking to dwell within the confines of who she already is.

What a relief that must have been to Mary, given her circumstances. She has nothing truly remarkable about her: no wealth, no familial stature, no great accomplishments, nothing but the vessel God has already given her—her mind, body, and soul.

So what does Mary need in order to host the Messiah?

She needs to make herself available—to make room physically, emotionally, and spiritually for him to dwell within her and stretch her into something new. Mary is disturbed and afraid, but she yields herself to the God who formed her with these words:

I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.

The Spirit of God that hovered over creation and hovered over Mary now hovers over us, waiting for us to yield to allow an eternal God to dwell within our limited human form. He doesn’t ask us to rise above our limits. Instead, he comes to us in the midst of them. This is good news for us, since we have all kinds of limitations: limited energy, time, abilities, experiences, and mental and emotional capacity, to name a few.

What if our limits are not an obstacle but an invitation? What if our limits are the very place where heaven touches earth? Because the beautiful mystery of the Annunciation is this: God chooses to dwell within our human limitations.

And when he dwells within our human limits, our souls expand to accommodate his infinite presence in our lives, and he stretches us to look like him.

Ponder

How can you embrace your limits to make room for God this Advent?

Pray

Inhale: God, you chose limits . . .

Exhale: . . . so I can too.