Today…and for upcoming Tuesdays, I want to excerpt some powerful reminders from Carolyn Custiss James…..reminders of women who listened to God more than to fear….
Audacious Mary of Nazareth
Jesus’ own mother was the first female in the New Testament to hear the words “Fear not” when the angel called her to do something “inappropriate for a godly woman”—agree to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The angel’s “Fear not” wasn’t just for poetic effect. This young teenager had reason to fear both the angel and the consequences of the job she was being called to do. In the ancient culture, this kind of pregnancy was not considered a misstep, but a violation of family honor that must be answered and was punishable by shunning, divorce, or death. Yet Mary didn’t give fear the final word, but risked her life to answer God’s call.
Oboedire 
Steve, your words are so timely. I have just been doing my Sunday music blog and Mary was the picture I chose… Pietà by Michelangelo…holding the dead Jesus across her lap. My thoughts had been just as you mentioned….how far she had come since that first time she knew she was to give birth to Jesus as an unmarried teen…and now this One she loved had died on a cruel cross. I wondered if God also gave her the understanding of His words when He said He would rise up on the 3rd day. Her mother’s heart must have been totally broken. Nancy from Boyer Writes http://www.boyerwrites.wordpress.com