Mary Did You Know? Christmas, 2012

In the first chapter of Luke, we read

26-And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent 

from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27-To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, 

of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28-And the angel came in unto her, and said, 

Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: 

blessed art thou among women.

29-And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, 

and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Today Lord, I commit to more fully trust in thy will for my life.  I choose today to live in faith and to move forward in thy strength and vision.  I want to be an instrument in thy hands. 

30- And the angel said unto her, 

Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 

How does one find favour with God?  Each soul is precious in the sight of God... precious enough that Christ suffered unfathomable grief and pain for each individual who has ever or who will ever come to this earth.  To be favoured is more than to be precious in His sight.  We learn in the scriptures that those who set their hearts upon the things of God are chosen of Him.  In Proverbs, we learn that those who have truth and mercy written on the tablets of their hearts are blessed and favoured of God.  I always tell my kids, 

"If you want to be chosen of God... CHOOSE (action verb) God!"

31- And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32- He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.

33- And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Clearly, up to this point in her life, Mary had no idea that she would become the mother of the Son of God.  She was troubled by what the angel revealed unto her.  In other words... she couldn't wrap her mind around God's vision for her life. 

How did Mary resolve her concern? 

34- Then Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

She asked for further light and understanding with the intent to have her vision expanded... not to talk God out of His plan for her life.

35- And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God

37- For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38- And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word...

39- And Mary arose...

Because of her humility, her willingness to be used by the Father, and her desire to have His will made manifest in her life, she was able to receive the further light and understanding He wished to bless her with.  We don't know if this completely resolved her "troubled" feelings or not, but we do know that at this point, she chose to move forward in faith.  Faith that her life was in God's hands, and faith that His infinite vision for her life was better than what she had previously imagined and planned for herself.

Each of us face times in our lives when we feel overwhelmed, confused, or downright fearful of what the Father is asking us to do.

As the time for the Savior to atone for our sins drew near, He felt the weight of what it was He was about to experience. He prayed,

Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: 

nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.

Luke 22:42

He felt the fear, yet chose to move forward in faith.  Because of His perfect love for and trust in His Father, and also His perfect love for each of us, he completed the incomprehensible mission He had been sent to accomplish.  I praise Him and honor Him for His courage, strength and sacrifice!

Father, I invite thy will into my life.  I glory in thy will and trust that thou knows how to best grow and develop me into the person worthy of thy promised glories yet unseen!