Important Lessons from Mary's Story

Mary’s story is such a beautiful story of faith, trust, and blessing.

In Luke 1, Mary is introduced to us as a virgin espoused to a man named Joseph. One day an angel appears before Mary and tells her that the Lord has found favor in her. The angel proceeds to tell Mary that she will be blessed and assures her that the Lord will be with her.

Can you imagine what was going through Mary’s mind? “An angel is standing in front of me. He is telling me that the Lord is with me and that He has found favor in me.” Now, I would have been a little overwhelmed at what the angel was saying. It surely must be an important message if God sent an angel! The angel proclaims that Mary will conceive a child, a boy, and will call him Jesus. And He will be great and be called the Son of the Highest. Wow! Mary was chosen for such an amazing and intentional mission, to be the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.

Mary responded to the angel by asking how she could be pregnant as she did not know a man. That is just like us, when God calls us to do something that seems unreal, we start asking questions. Mary knew that being pregnant without knowing a man was humanly impossible. Yet she also knew that God could do the impossible. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her.

The next part of Mary’s story is profound! Completing trusting God’s plan for her life, Mary humbly told the angel, “Behold, I am the Lord’s servant and may it be unto me according to thy word.”  The angel departed as quickly as he appeared. Here is the faith part! The Bible says that Mary went. She WENT. And she went with HASTE. She trusted God so much that she hurriedly stepped forward into God’s plan for her life. Now that’s faith!

Faith is like closing your eyes and trusting God to guide you even when things do not make sense at the time. Trust Him and hold tight to His promise. But to fully trust, we must hold loosely to the plan, no matter what.”  happens. That can be so difficult to do sometimes because our human flesh wants to take charge and ‘fix it.’  We want things to occur in our time, our way, and exactly how we want it to unfold.

God does not work that way. If you have a relationship with Him, He knows your heart. He hears your prayers, even the ones when you cannot find the words to say. We must abide in Him and run to Him with any questions or concerns that we have. He really is your best friend. He hears you. He sees you! God will not abandon those who seek Him.

Mary’s story reminds us that:

1.       God is with you, always. ALWAYS!

2.       God believes in you. God sent an angel to tell Mary that she had found favor with God. She was not accomplished, did not hold any educational degrees, and was not even a mother. But God saw her heart and knew she was faithful. He knew that she would allow Him to overshadow her.

3.       God chose you. When He nudges our heart or calls us to do kingdom work, He chooses you because He believes you are the right person for the job. He will overshadow you and prepare the way. He will provide all that you need to accomplish what He asks you to do. You only need faith and believe that His promises are true and His words never fail. Do not believe the devil’s lie that God cannot use you. You will never be worthy enough, qualified, prepared enough, or ready if you listen to the devil. Do not miss the opportunity that God gives YOU. Answer like Mary did, “let it be to me as You have said.”

 4.       God leads you. He will speak into your spirit to let you know what to do and when to do it. Follow His plan and hold tight to His promise. He will not give you all the details of the whole plan. The “what’s next” may not be well-defined yet but trust Him. You know in your heart that He called you to do something, so move toward His calling. Just like Mary did. She WENT.

If God calls you to do something, do it. Believe in Him and move toward His calling. God will prepare the way and tell you what you need to know. He will send people to give you confirmation and to help you. God may ask you to plant an empowering seed in someone’s life. Or someone else planted a seed, and He needs you to water it. He will not tell you the whole plan before you begin, but He will show you what to do as you need to know. Trust His plan, even when things do not make earthly sense. Have a relationship with God so that you hear His calm, sweet voice. Trust His calling like Mary did.

MARY DID YOU KNOW?

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