No.1 | faith.

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her”. (Luke 1:26-38 NLT)

I must admit that I am not very open to sudden changes. Whenever I plan for something, I look forward to it happening just the way that I imagined it. When things suddenly change, adjusting to the change is not an easy process. I may complain a little and walk around with a slight attitude (God is working on me), but eventually I accept the change for what it is and move forward.

In the passage, we meet Mary: a young virgin who was highly favored by the Lord. She’s engaged to be married, which is something that she had prepared for. She knew what was about to happen and I can imagine that she was looking forward to her promising future with Joseph.

Everything was good!

But then an angel from the Lord comes and tells her that she is about to conceive a child as a virgin. Conceive a child....as a....virgin. Basically, telling Mary that her life would be placed on hold because God had another plan. A plan that would involve her giving birth to a miracle child that would save all of humanity. Talk about pressure!

Through all of this, I am inspired by Mary’s response to the call. Mary didn’t hesitate. She didn’t ask fifty million questions as to why. She simply said, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true’. She recognized that God being Lord over her life meant that His will was first. She had faith that what God planned for her was better, even if she didn’t fully understand. Although it didn’t align with what she was planning for, she believed and she trusted that the word of the Lord would be so.

I believe that as He did with Mary, God wants to use us in a profound way, but we must be willing to accept His will over our goals. Remember that He who holds the world in His hands knows exactly what He’s doing. His word will never fail you.

“God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19)