Dive Deeper

The voices swirled around her… “pregnant out of wedlock! Poor Joseph…” 

The faces of disdain and pity glanced at her from the shadows… “what will she do now? Such disgrace…”

It was so incredible, so miraculous. An angel from the Lord… the Holy Spirit pouring over and through her… a miraculous conception. And then again, an angel of the Lord meeting Joseph in a dream… Joseph choosing faith over fear… choosing love over rejection. 

She had then visited Elizabeth and together they had rejoiced at the goodness of the God they serve. The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Their God, Who had chosen them and had favored and honored them. Unable to contain themselves and their wonder, the Holy Spirit poured out through them as they sang praise to God and prophesied to the generations that were changed in this one moment in time. 

And then there were days like this. Days when her neighbors’ talking seemed to grow as much as her swelling belly. 

Maybe you have been there too. Our Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob reached out and met you in an incredible way, and you couldn’t contain the joy and praise that poured out of you. Your faith soaring, you took His hand and started down that dimly lit path, one step at a time. 

But not everything went as you had imagined. Unexpected obstacles came, and you found yourself misunderstood in the midst of an explanation that seemed impossible… or maybe rejected for a step of faith that offended those around you, even the ones you love most… and haven’t we all found ourselves lonely at times when those we thought would stand with us instead slowly drifted away?

In his gospel, Luke parallels Zachariah’s angelic visitation right next to Mary’s in his recounting of these two cousins - John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ - birth stories. While both responses can teach the reader quite a bit, it is Mary’s humility, surrender, and faith that shine a light on the heart attitudes that keep us walking in communion down the path with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 

Humility. Mary knows who she is, and she is secure in her identity. Let this sink in. If we are to walk in faith, it is critical that we are rooted in an identity that finds its foundation in the words (ie: Truth), actions (ie: perfect love), and presence of the Trinity - and in nothing else. Mary does not think any higher of herself or any lower of herself in her understanding of her identity before the Lord. We see this not only in her immediate response to the angel, “I am the Lord’s servant,” but also as she continues further in the spontaneous song that bursts from her during her initial reunion with Elizabeth: “For he [God] took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.”

It is only in the low place of humility that we can fully be raised up, understanding that the rising up comes not from anything that we could do in our strength, but instead from “the Mighty One who is holy and has done great things for us!”

Surrender and faith then surround the words that follow the initial flow of humility… “may everything you have said about me come true.”

Surrender. Is it possible that Mary already had dreams of how her marriage and family would look? Promised to Joseph, she was already on the path to growing a family in the traditional way… maybe plans were already being discussed and preparations made between mother and daughter for this great upcoming life change.  

And then this. 

What greater honor could there be than to be favored and chosen by our very Father-King to carry His own Son?! And yet in place of the security that the traditional marriage route would lend her, she finds herself called to a path of uncertainty, misunderstanding, and unfamiliarity. 

But still, she surrenders. 

She surrenders to the unknown, to taking things one day at a time, and to listening to the Holy Spirit’s lead moment by moment. And she surrenders to trusting God more than the traditions and rituals that made up the culture and community that she had always called home. 

Faith. Because what is faith if it is not rooted in trusting our God? 

We find that Mary is not only confident in her own identity, but she is deeply confident in the identity of her God as well… so confident that these are the words that fill her mouth in her initial moments of greeting Elizabeth.

“God my Savior… he takes notice… the Mighty One… he shows mercy… he scatters the proud… brings down the princes and exalts the humble… fills the hungry with good things… helps his servants… carries out his promises.”

And not only does she sing out the character traits of her God over herself and Elizabeth, but she sings them out over generations and generations to come. 

Faith. Deep faith. This did not come in a moment of emotion. This did not come through sporadic times of study. This faith came from knowing her God deeply, from recognizing His character, from hearing over and over the rich stories of old… stories of a good, loving God and His people: a story of a great flood and a few faithful saved, a story of a great giant and a small shepherd with a few stones, and a story of a God that leads with a cloud by day and a fire by night and a people that slowly learned to mold their will to His. 

She obediently trusted Him in the little daily acts until she could trust Him and He could trust her in greater callings as well. 

She learned to live in His presence and hear His voice so that she knew it when He spoke. To let Him pull her a little closer in the good and the hard days and all the days of change that marked the path before her.

She is not a stranger to her God, and He is not a stranger to her. 

And when He calls her, she is able to humbly surrender her life to whatever He asks of her, placing her trust and faith in Him. 

Oh, Father, may we be found faithful and ready as well.