“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’”
– Luke 1:26-28
Yesterday we talked about Zechariah and his response to God’s announcement that he and his wife would have a child in their old age. Unfortunately, his reaction to this good news was not full of faith, which is in stark contrast to Mary, the Biblical heroine we are going to look at today. A young woman (and teenager by our standards), Mary is between 15 and 19 years old and is engaged to the most eligible bachelor in town, Joseph, a descendant of David. As any future bride would be, she is busy planning a wedding and looking forward to an honorable life with her betrothed. Then out of the blue, everything changes and her circumstances are turned on their head when the angel Gabriel appears to her, just like he did to Zechariah. This time, he bears a message that could have shaken her to her core: she, a virgin, was going to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and bear a son. You can imagine the questions that were bouncing around in her mind at that point…How can this happen? Why me? What will Joseph say? What will my family and friends think?…and yet she answers simply, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Wow! I don’t know about you but that might not have been my response given the news that my whole life was going to change and that I was going to have to give up what I thought I most wanted, but this is the powerful lesson in Mary’s story. She said “yes” to God when she had everything to lose and her willingness to cooperate with Him changed her own life, the lives of her people, the world itself, and even altered the entire course of history! Friend, I urge you to adopt Mary’s perspective when God asks you to do things that seem like too much for you. Even though there will be pain, become the kind of person who sees the opportunity, dream, or promise as being much greater than the problems directly in front of you. Learn the heart of your Heavenly Father and lean into His goodness at the times when you least understand. As you do this, faith is nurtured and trust is grown in your midst in beautiful new ways. The journey you are on will not always make sense to you, but it makes perfect sense to the One Who created you. He will lead you to things that are far greater than what you can comprehend, if only you say “yes” to His call! |
Prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your good plan for my life. I am your servant and I want you to use me to accomplish God-sized dreams.
Reflection
When has saying “yes” to God resulted in an outcome far greater than you could have imagined?
