Appointment with Destiny

“Mary set out, proceeding in haste...” Luke 1:39

Mary had all the excuses in the world not to go to the hill country of Ein Karem. She was a young girl and she had just learned from an angel the most incredible news! She was to bear a son, and not just an ordinary boy. The Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive in her womb the Son of the Most High, and His Kingdom would have no end. One would think that she would be more careful than most about her condition. After all, she was carrying within her a very special, grand and glorious baby. People should visit her, not the other way around. People should treat her special. 

But Mary was....well, different. The angel had also told her that her older cousin Elizabeth who everyone thought was barren was in her 6th month of pregnancy. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Because Mary did not think herself entitled, and did not put herself first, she hastened to Ein Karem, which means “Spring of the Vineyard” in Hebrew. 

Jesus said He was the vine and we are the branches in John 15:5. John the Baptist, who was in the womb of Elizabeth, “leapt” in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrived. Like a spring that wets the ground in preparation for the vines, John went before Jesus to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord!”

I am sure Mary was confused about all that was happening to her and around her. But she kept these things in her heart and pondered them. Because of this, she was already guided by the Spirit who was leading the way to Ein Karem. Was it not an appointment with destiny that John, the “spring” would meet and recognize the “vine”? 

Sometimes we too do not understand all the goings on in our life. All does not have to be clear. All we have to do is to have God’s word in our hearts and mind, the Word dwelling within us. If we keep Jesus with us, and we do not always put ourself first, we can be sure His Spirit will lead the way.