‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38).
What was it that allowed Mary to respond in such a way to such an incredible, incomprehensible calling from the Lord?
We know little about the facts of Mary’s life. We assume she was a young woman, a teenager, and she was betrothed to a good man, but not yet married.
She had never carried a child before, never given birth.
She ran the very great risk of being rejected and ostracized by Joseph and her community for bearing a child out of wedlock, in a culture which could be harsh for women.
And yet from her response, a trusting submission to God, we learn much about her character and what she loved.
I think she chose faith over fear.
She chose to see beyond the present time.
She trusted that God, who had done mighty things for her people, could do mighty things in and for her.
She had faith to put her life in God’s hands without knowing what was coming; before she knew Joseph would receive his own witness of the miracle that was occurring; without the assurance that her life would be trouble free from that point on.
She looked with eyes that saw beyond what could happen to her in the present to the glory of partnering with God in His work; beyond what imperfect people would think of her to the extraordinary witness that she was chosen of the Lord to do a great work.
She trusted that whatever God asked was good.
By being willing, she experienced the love of God in her life, beheld miracles and the majestic fulfilling of the Father’s plan and came to know that whatever the circumstance, He was and would be with her.
Her witness, before she knew what would happen was this:
‘My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name’ (Luke 1:46-49).
She didn’t know the how and was still learning much of the why, but she did know Who; she knew the God who asked this thing of her and she knew who she was in relation to Him-a beloved, divine daughter.
Like Mary, we are asked to follow the Lord in faith.
Often without knowing what is coming and sometimes when the situation seems impossible.
We are asked to see beyond what is present and beyond what others will think of us and, in patience, to trust in His goodness, in His timing, and in His power to do great things in and for us.
When we are willing to submit and choose faith over fear, we can, like her, experience the majesty and glory of His plan unfolding in our lives and learn for ourselves that ‘with God, nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37).
