"The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:27-33
Though the Bible nowhere tells Mary’s age when the angel came to her, it is assumed that she was a teenager. If this was the case then it seems to be a very young age to have such a burden placed on her.
Imagine Mary’s state of mind before the angel spoke to her. She was engaged to a man named Joseph. She undoubtedly had plans for the wedding and to raise a family with her husband to be.
I remember the weeks and months before I was to marry many years ago. There were often doubts about whether I was doing the right thing. Can I love this woman for the rest of my life? Is she the right one for me? Is this all a big mistake? Two days before the wedding I told my best friend that I wasn’t ready for marriage. It would have been great in one sense for God to send me an angel and reassure me that this was the correct path to take.
The difference here is that no one ever came and threw a monkey wrench into my plans! It was very straight forward; prepare for the wedding get married and return to your life.
For Mary everything changed dramatically. What would she do? How would she explain this? Is this really of God?
When she asked the Angel, “How will this be?” he gave her the sketchy details. Mary didn’t pretend to understand it all, indeed she understood very little at that time. What she did know was that God was moving in her life, and all she had planned would change dramatically.
Was there a time in your life when things seemed to be moving along as expected and something abruptly changed? Perhaps you lost a close member or your family, or disease became the new reality in your life. How do we take it? In what way do we manage life’s sudden adjustments?
When Mary was confronted with this life transforming news she asked, “How will this be?” The answer from the angel was, “Nothing is impossible with God.”
Though our understanding is incomplete and the causes not always understood, rather than shrinking away into confusion and despair let our solution always be to trust God. 1 Peter 5:7 says that we can "cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us."
