Mary was a
ponderer. When the angel Gabriel visited her and said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord
is with you (vs 28),” she pondered what he might mean. Gabriel continued to
tell her the purpose of his visit. “You
have found favor with God…and you will conceive…and bear a son, and you shall
name him Jesus.
“He will be
great and be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; and His kingdom will have no end (vs 30-33).”
It seems by
her question after this wonderful news regarding the Jews’ long-awaited Messiah
coming through her, that she was pondering the logistics of it all. “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Was Mary
about to miss the main message of the coming Messiah by focusing on details of
the process?
Being a bit
of a ponderer myself, I identify with her question and thought process. Many years ago, I attended nursing conference
in Orlando, FL. We had an afternoon that was meeting-free, during which many of
us chose to visit Disney World. I went on “It’s a Small World” ride and was totally
blown away by all the intricate interaction of the extravaganza. I began focusing on looking behind what was
presented to the public to try and discover the inner workings of the ride.
Once I was
satisfied in my ponderings of the behind-the-scenes workings, I was able to
turn to the animation and thoroughly enjoy it as we moved through the
ride. Perhaps Mary needed to do the
same: explore her ponderings of the “How” in order to trust the process God
laid out for the miracle.
Mary was
favored by God. He did not become
impatient with her question. Perhaps He
gave her enough information to help her trust Him with the process, which
allowed her to rejoice in the miracle in which she was about to play a pivotal
part. In her final words to the angel,
Mary showed her complete surrender to God’s plan to be accomplished in and
through her. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according
to your word (vs 38, ESV).”
Prayer: Lord, help us to trust You in the process You lay out for us – that we might see the miracles you plan to accomplish in and through our lives. Amen.
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