Have you ever been bad-mouthed? Talked about? Run through the rumor mill? Allow me to introduce you to a young teenager named Mary. She was around 14 years old and pure as the proverbial driven snow. Her life – inside and out – was one of innocence and humility.
And then what happened? The gossips got busy. In a small town like Nazareth, nothing went unnoticed. Absolutely nothing. Everybody knew everybody’s business.
See, Mary had gone for a visit to her cousin Elizabeth’s and Luke 1:56 says that: “Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home” (NLT).
When Mary got back, the gossips took notice: “Doesn’t Mary look like she’s gained some weight? And I haven’t seen her hang out any rags since she’s been back. Know what I think?”
We’re all adults here, so let me explain how things were until the last century or so. When a woman’s monthly ordeal came along, what did she do? Used rags, strips of old cloth, in lieu of a sanitary napkin (which had yet to be invented). Afterwards, these rags were boiled in a laundry pot and hung outdoors to dry so they could be reused the next time around. Thus the tacky expression that’s probably already come to your mind – it was easy to know what was going on when your personal laundry had to flap in the breeze in front of the whole neighborhood each month.
It’s quite probable that Mary’s lack of monthly laundry is what caught folks’ attention. Whatever it was, Mary very likely, to some, lived her lifetime with a blemish on her reputation; Mary, the mother of the Son of God.
Even her husband-to-be had heard the talk. Matthew 1:19-21 tells us: “Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’” (NLT). Joseph believed the angel, married Mary and was present at the birth of Jesus.
So when the happy couple and young Jesus returned to Nazareth, don’t you know there were those who said: “That baby was well on its way before she and Joseph were even married!”
And this time, the gossips were right – they just had no idea what an awesome miracle Mary had experienced.
Mary didn’t let gossip defeat her. She knew the Truth and that was enough for her. How about you? Do you know the Truth? If you do, don’t let any negative talk or attitude stop you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
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