Christmas is a time to rejoice, reflect, and to celebrate the birth of our Savior. There are so many things we can learn from this miraculous birth story, but there is one perspective we had not fully grasped until writing this song.  

The perspective of Mary, her obvious feelings of inadequacy to give birth to the Savior and then the weight of the pain she endured watching her son suffer and die. The conflict of the grief she felt and the continued submission of God's will to be done in not only her life, but for all humanity.   

When the angel first visited Mary, her world was turned upside down and nothing made sense. After all, she had not been with a man. What would people think, what would become of her? I can only imagine what would have gone through my mind. God, this is not my plan, this won't work, I'm not the right girl for the job. Yet, that is not what Mary says, "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled."  (Luke 1:38 NIV)

She didn't understand, yet she was willing. We don't have to understand God's plan or even necessarily like it. However, are we willing to say I am the Lord's servant and trust Him with the outcome? Furthermore, to rejoice and say, Glory to God in the highest?  

The night of Jesus' birth must have been overwhelming emotionally. Exhausted from travel, less than ideal birthing conditions, and pain were immediately overshadowed by the child she held in her arms. Yes, it was the long awaited Messiah, yes, the Creator of the world she lived in, but to Mary, He was her baby, her child. She was a mother and all the love and protection that we can only imagine a mother experiences is what Mary felt at that moment. 

Then came the stabbing pain of watching him grow up, knowing she could not always protect him as she had when he was a toddler. The searing words of Simeon in the temple the day baby Jesus was presented, must have haunted her: "And a sword will pierce your own soul too." 

Yet, Glory to God in the Highest.

We want to protect our plans, our rights, our things. Nothing we have is truly ours to keep.  Everything is His anyway, even our very breath is a gift from God. But we cling so tightly that we lose the correct perspective that only God is truly in control, and His plans for us are good.   May you and I have Mary's heart of submission and release what we cling to so tightly. May we trust His plan, and say Glory to God in the Highest. 

Finally, the horror of watching her son die, remembering all the details of his life, raising the son of God. She knew He was the Messiah and the realization that this was God's plan all along must have brought her full circle back to the night the angel first visited her. The release of her future plans was now the ultimate release of her son.  Yet Glory to God in the highest because now she could truly live because the gift of eternal life her son, the messiah, came to give not only to her but the entire world. 

God used an ordinary girl to do extraordinary things. God used a simple babe, born in a manger to be the Savior of the world. In this, God clearly shows he can use each one of us, ordinary people, to do extraordinary things for Him. We must be willing. Willing to say "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants". Luke 1:38 (TLB) We must trust Him when things are hard and don't make sense. We can rejoice with the angels and say Glory to God in the Highest! He is God. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is good, and His plan is perfect. 
 
Lyrics: 
In the silence of the night
A long awaited holy cry
Hands that formed the moon and stars
Reached for you and stole your heart

Highly favored you were called
To the hardest job of all
You were only just a girl
To cradle the weight of the world
 
Glory to God in the highest
Glory to God in the highest
 
As years went by you freed his hand
You watched your boy become a man
You did you best to keep him safe
But he was never yours to claim
 
Glory to God in the highest
Glory to God in the highest

Gloria in Exceles deo
Gloria in Exceles deo
 
Mother of the Son of God
See your child on a cross 
Life you gave Him, now He gives
He was born so you live
 
His name's adored throughout the earth
But you're the one who loved him first