She knew how it felt to be the odd one out, to stick out like a sore thumb. To have to explain herself over and over to people whose body language reeked of judgment.

Her life had been going great. She was betrothed to every girl’s dream guy, Joseph, a just and honourable man from the lineage of the great King David.

What’s more? She had kept herself pure in reverence for God and in honor of her impending marriage.

All her ducks were in a crisp row. That’s until Angel Gabriel barged into her life and upset the apple cart.

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The angel had announced that she had found favor with God. “I could definitely use some favor!” she had thought, perking up.

It’s how the favor unfolded that made her hair rise. She would conceive a son, not after consummating her marriage but before.

She would sport a baby bump before she was wedded. Jaws would drop, and brows crease into deep furrows.

“She claims the pregnancy is of the holy spirit,” women would quip before bursting into gales of laughter.

Whipsawed between God’s favor and man’s opinion, how would she respond? Would she resist God’s will to save face? Would she crumble under the weight of this unprecedented assignment?

Was her reputation dearer than being part of God’s redemptive story? Would she eagerly relinquish her plans and ease into God’s?

What about her fiancé, Joseph? Was this the end? Would their love story crumble like a dry cracker? Would he believe her? So much was at stake!

“Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” (Mathew 1:38)

Thankfully, Mary chose God’s will without batting an eye. She welcomed the divine interruption with open arms.

The savior of the world would be housed in her womb. Those who chose to ridicule and spite her were free to do so.

She understood that doing God’s will would make her an oddball, a square peg in a round hole.

She would be misunderstood, ridiculed, and dismissed.

Jaws would drop, brows furrow, and mouths gasp.

Her name would get swished in more mouths than she could count.

Private Instructions, Public Obedience

Wouldn’t it have been easier if Angel Gabriel had walked up to Mary’s family at the dinner table and relayed the news with everyone present?

Her parents would have been in the loop, making it easier for everybody. At the very least, her family would have her back as the rumours spread their tentacles.

Her parents could have held meetings with the religious leaders of the day, letting them in on the peculiar incident.

That would have gone a long way in shielding her from piercing eyes and wagging tongues.

They could have even met her prospective in-laws and explained that their daughter was on favour overload.

She had not only found favor with their son but also with the Almighty God. That was a lot of favor, by any standards, the kind that warranted its own zipcode.

But because obedience is deeply personal, the angel appeared to Mary privately and whispered the life-altering news.

The young heart that once teemed with youthful ambitions now throbbed with Heaven’s agenda.

---

Abram too received solitary instructions with God asking him to leave his family, his father’s house, and country and go to a place that He would show him.

No explanation or backstory was offered to his family.

It was just him and his God – no audience or support group.

“Where are you off to, Abram? a relative asked.

“To be honest, I have no idea”. Abram shrugged.

“How will you know when you get there?”

“I suppose God will let me know.”

Noah, too, knew how isolating God’s will was.

He endured gimlet stares and taunting from people who didn’t possess even a shred of discernment.

Nonetheless, he carried on sawing, hammering, and scraping, building the ark.

The sight of him rounding up the animals in pairs must have been the last straw that threatened to puncture his fortitude. It must have sent onlookers roaring in laughter.

“Noah, have you lost your marbles? Someone blabbered, reeling from a drunken stupor.

“Look here, Noah, I know a mental health therapist, care to jot down his number?” another threw a jab.

More and more words studded with thorns were pelted at him, but he kept his shoulder to the wheel and finished building the mammoth ark.

He knew firsthand that obedience is deeply personal and isolating.

Because God will often whisper instructions in private and demand obedience in public.

It takes a mighty thick skin to do God’s bidding unreservedly.

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far

No one moved against the grain like Jesus. He ruffled many feathers. His sole purpose was to do the will of the Father and to finish his work (John 4:34).

As such, He moved with intention and left a trail of offense in His wake.

The religious leaders hit the roof when they heard him “claim” to forgive sin. They poked holes in his divinity when they saw Him associate with sinners.

Seeing him heal on the Sabbath made them fly off the handle.

And let’s not even mention the bold declaration that He was the Christ and one with the Father! They had had enough – Crucify the man already!

Jesus absorbed it all. He was misunderstood, scorned, ridiculed, hated, tortured, and ultimately crucified.

He took it all in. He disdained man’s approval and only sought His Father’s.

“But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men.” (John 2:24)

Before his ascension, He warned his disciples that they were not immune to the kind of havoc he had trudged through.

They were by no means superior to Him. If He was disdained, they too would be.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. “ (John 15:18-20).

Jesus reminds you and me the same today. He reminds us that things will get murky as we follow Him and pursue His will.

You will be ridiculed, taunted, and dismissed. You will be persecuted for the mere fact that you do not belong to this world.

That’s because you are an oddball, a full-fledged square peg in a round hole.

You are like your master, Jesus. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

You will ruffle feathers and rock boats in your pursuit of God’s will

Don’t be surprised when even your closest kin get incensed at you.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. (Mathew 10:34-36)

Pursuing God’s will will cost you. A lot.

Despise The Shame

Jesus did not amplify the shame, ridicule, and dishonor meted out to him. He did not obsess over it or allow it to calcify in his heart. Instead, he despised it.

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

He didn’t offer it a front row seat or spend time analyzing it. He instead shook it off and forged ahead. Undettered.

You and I can do the same when ridiculed for doing the master’s bidding. We can gloss over the shame.

We can take the shame in our stride and forge ahead undeterred.

In fact, Jesus asks us to get the flags out whenever we face opposition for His sake

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

It is, in fact, a great privilege to be scorned, ridiculed, shamed, and persecuted for the one who bore it all for our redemption.

Final Thoughts

Do you feel isolated as you pursue God’s will? Are you facing opposition whichever side you turn? Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Despise the shame and count it a privilege to be reviled for the master.