Bible Reading for December 20 – Luke 1:34-38

It’s easy to trust in God when it’s the socially acceptable thing to do, and when no more is expected of you than occasional attendance upon divine worship and perhaps a few coins placed in the offering plate. But that wasn’t the case for Mary. No, she wasn’t just called to believe God’s Word in some sort of abstract, intellectual fashion. No, for her to accept what the angel was saying to her would mean her whole world would come crashing down.

For if she agreed to become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, who would believe her story? What would happen to her reputation when all those gossipy neighbors in Nazareth started talking about her? Would her parents throw her out of their house? And what if Joseph decided to break his engagement with her? What other man would be willing to step in and help her raise someone else’s baby? In those days, a woman without a husband was doomed to poverty. Mary could very easily have ended up as a beggar or, even worse, a prostitute.

But Mary knew something else about God – as verse 37 says, nothing is impossible for Him. Just as God could allow Elizabeth to have a son when she was far too old to become pregnant (v. 36, see Luke 1:7, 24), God could take care of Mary in spite of all the gossip and slander and poverty she might have to go through.

And so Mary made a choice – she chose to trust God, not because she understood what was about to happen to her, and not because God was promising that everything in her life would work out the way she wanted it to. She chose to trust God’s plan and purpose for her life, no matter what that might mean for her. She put herself completely in God’s hands, no matter what it might cost her.

And, believe it or not, that’s exactly what God is calling all of us to do as well. That’s what Jesus means when he says that those who follow Him must deny ourselves and take up our cross (Luke 9:23-24). So, are we willing to make the choice Mary made? Are we willing to trust God with all we are and all we have, no matter what?

Luke 1:34-38 (ESV)

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy– the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.