I am taking part in an online Bible study for the next 2 months… when I get a chance, I plan to share my insights with you here…
This study is through Good Morning Girls – they have put together an awesome study but what’s more is that they build in some accountability. They say that you really need to have a group to go through this study with and that you need to check in every day.
Today’s text is from Luke 1:26-1:38 (from the NLT)
26 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! 31You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He 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. 33And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35The 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. 36What’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. 37For nothing is impossible with God.”
38Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
I’ve always looked at this passage with a bit of skepticism. For one thing, it says nothing about Mary being scared out of her mind for an angel to just show up. In verse 29 it only says that she is confused and disturbed. I think that was probably putting the whole thing mildly. And for another, it seems that she just calmly accepts what is about to happen to her.
Maybe I’m too much of a 21st century woman. Maybe she was so used to people just telling her what to do that she accepted whatever her fate would be. I don’t know that I could calmly look at some crazy being and say “sure, go ahead”.
Or maybe…
Her faith told her that everything would be ok.
Maybe her love of God made her understand that this was meant for her good and not to harm her.
I sometimes think we Protestants have forgotten this great heroine of the Bible. She was handed an impossible, deadly task and she took it on with grace and humility. The task was deadly not only because her village would likely kill her for being pregnant out of wedlock. It was deadly because so many women died in childbirth. She would have known that. She would have heard stories of women who didn’t come back from the child-bed.
And that, to me, shows me her faith. That she knew there was a better than average chance that shouldn’t make it out alive but she still said “I’m His and let it be done”
Today I’m also checking in with…
DAY 7 of YES!
I haven’t done these in a couple of weeks.. just too many things happening. But here goes…
From the Book:
I Declare that God has a great plan for my life. He is directing my steps. And even though I may not always understand how, I know my situation is not a surprise to God. He will work out every detail to my advantage. In His perfect timing, everything will turn out right. This is my declaration.
This has to be how Mary felt. She had to have known that it would all work out. She had to have know that He would protect her.
This is the thing that I have the most trouble with in my life. I feel like I am constantly massaging and pushing and pulling things into place. But when I let go and let things flow without out my pushing and pulling them into place, they all just work out.
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