Thinking About Mary's Thoughts

"But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:30-33

Every time I read the Christmas story I always think of Mary and what it would be like to be told by an angel that I was going to have a child, even though I'd never been with a man. I think about the courage she must have had in her heart to be the chosen woman of God for this task. This morning, though, as I read these verses in Luke, I thought of the rest of what the angel said... what did Mary think of that? As the angel tells her that her son will be great and will sit on David's throne and rule forever... as a mom, I have to tell you, that kind of changes things up a bit. I think that those statements right there would be precisely where I would draw my courage from. And it makes me really think that Mary was a woman of fantastic faith.

I'm thinking that from the outside looking in, if I was someone who just knew Mary somewhat, that she would come across as a woman of magnanimous faith. You know that you know someone like that, someone who could be told they are dying of cancer, and their face lights up and they get very excited because they know their Jesus can heal them. Mary had extreme faith that told her that everything this angel told her was going to come to pass and that she truly had no need to be afraid. Consequently, I suspect that when the angel said "do not be afraid" she took that to heart and wasn't afraid. She placed her faith in her God who chose her for this amazing task. And while I can say with certainty, that I certainly don't want an angel to show up at my doorstep telling me I'm going to have a child, I would love to have the faith and the strength that Mary had.

The kind of faith that when I read in the Bible that God will provide for my every need, that I can believe it in my heart of hearts and know it to be true, and not have that tiny portion of doubt hiding inside, hoping that God comes through on his promise.

Mary is such a fine example of a person of great faith... it's a shame that I really only focus on her when I'm thinking about Christmas. I need to remember to look at her at other times, and draw from her faith to help build up my own. And then I need to share that faith. Faith does me no good if I keep it all to myself. It's meant to be shared, and with God's help I can do just that with anyone who needs it.

Without God I am nothing, but with God... with God anything and everything is possible.