“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He 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. And He will reign over Israel forever; His Kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The 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. What’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. For the word of God will never fail.”
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.” – Luke 1:26-38
Can you imagine being in Mary’s position? How would you respond?
Mary’s response to the angel has always stood out to me. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Her response was a resounding “yes”… filled with faith. Mary held a posture of Yes, to what the Lord had called her to. There was no meltdown. No kicking and screaming. Simply reverence to God’s plan and God’s ways and God’s timing.
So often we can get hung up on what others will say if we step out and do what God has called us to do. We can be consumed with the fear of man, wrestling-out whether or not we’re going to follow through with what God has asked of us. But Mary had a very different response.
Mary’s first response of surrender would be a life-long posture of surrender to God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s timing for her life and the Divine Life that was planted in her womb. Her surrender would bring her to experience a love like no other, she would behold the glory of God, and receive abundant joy unspeakable. But at times, her surrender would require her tender heart to wade through great anguish. Being ostracized from others; mockery and judgement would be on the hearts and tongues of those who didn’t believe that she was carrying the Messiah. The gift of Heaven held in her arms would one day lead her to deep sorrow. The sweet face she would look down upon to kiss and lovingly caress, would be the same face she would look up to from the foot of the cross and be overwhelmed with a deep piercing in her heart, watching her son die a horrible and unjust death. It cost her everything to surrender.
When we come face to face with what God is asking us to do, we will always have the choice of surrender.
May our heart’s-cry today, and all our days, be a willingness to surrender to what God is asking of us, at all costs. A heart that desires to serve Him and please Him no matter what. Whatever He asks of us. Whenever, and for however long.
“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
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