In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.  And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  Luke 1:26-32;  38

6 months after Gabriel visits Zechariah announcing Elizabeth’s conception, he announces a different mystery, but again a prophesy of pregnancy.   

He declared that life would visit another womb, this time of one betrothed- yet untouched.

He called her highly favored but the Bible tells us that this “greatly troubled” Mary.

The NLT puts it like this,  “Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.”

The Amplified says, “But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was.”

And the Passion Translations gives us another way to consider it, “ Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her.”

Why do you think this bothered Mary?  Why wouldn’t someone want to be called highly favored?  This seems like a good thing to me.  

Perhaps she saw herself as someone quite ordinary, and not so special.  

Highly favored may have sounded to her more like the girls born into positions of privilege and power.  Not poor, Hebrew girls, under Roman occupation, living in a small, insignificant place like Nazareth.  She was born on the wrong side of the tracks and that probably didn’t feel “favored” to her.  I imagine Mary knew the prophecies of the coming Messiah well,  but I doubt she ever could have imagined that SHE would be the one chosen to carry Him into the worldPerhaps it was the second part of the angel’s declaration, “the Lord is with you!” that perplexed her. 

It’s easy to ponder these words from our current perspective.  We live on this side of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, with His Spirit given to live within us as His followers.  For the Lord to be with us feels normal, understood, assumed.  But in Mary’s era, God did not yet dwell with them in this way.  So maybe this felt a bit startling or confusing to her.  

Look back at the text again.  Mary’s concern, confusion, and bewilderment is before the angel has even told her the BIG news - that she will become pregnant while still a virgin AND that it will be the Son of God that she carries in her virgin womb!  I love that he first speaks to her of her identity and of how God sees her, and then he tells her of the calling she’s been chosen for. 

If we hear God’s calling without a sense of who we really are, or how God sees us, we often write it off or we doubt our ability to carry it out.  Like many of us often struggle with who God says we are, it appears Mary initially queried the identity that this angel declared over her.

What has God spoken to you about who you are?  Do you find yourself doubting it or confused by it or do you believe Him?  Do you see yourself with critical eyes, human understanding, or doubts that disqualify you?  I know that some of the things God has called me to, have only found a fertile womb to grow in after I have stopped to first listen to who HE says I am.  That identity piece is a key to accepting and stepping into our calling, without fear.  

After we hear the truth we must then choose to believe Him!  

We can assume that Mary may have felt some fear because next the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”   Fear is a common way that the enemy tries to intercept God’s callings and purposes for us.  Can you relate?  You sense something God has put in your heart to do or perhaps to say.  But then you question your ability and now fear has found a place to sprout, crowding any room for roots of faith to grow. 

PEACE cannot grow where fear has taken root.

I know for myself, the fear is often because I don’t feel qualified, or good enough at what He’s calling me to do.  If I dive a little deeper into this and am honest with myself, I can see that this is actually growing out of an insecurity in my identity.   When I can renew my  mind with the Truth and spend time in God’s presence, I hear Him remind me of who I am.  So we circle back to the significance of our identity, again!  Oh how the Father wants us to believe who HE says we are!

Believing must become a daily tending of Truth.  

I can imagine Mary daily reminding herself that the growth of life within her was indeed a higher truth, beyond human ability and understanding.  I must do the same.  

Doubts will threaten to hijack our hearts and minds, but returning regularly to the words of God will nurture the life He has planted deep within us.

My abilities will never be enough to do what God calls me to do.  I will never be talented enough, wise enough, gifted enough, and if I ever think that I am… I’m probably in trouble!!

I must move into God’s callings for my life out of my God given identity. 

THAT is where I can fulfill His bold requests with confidence and without fear.

After the angel proclaims just how bold and out of the box God’s plan is for Mary’s life, we see the secret formula she pulls out of her pocket - surrender!

Aren’t you glad that Mary’s example for the way out of doubt and fear is to say, “yes”?  

But - could it really be that simple?  

Could she take on this monumental task of facing a pregnancy that would be seen as illegitimate, the certain rejection by others who didn’t hear the angel with their own ears, the responsibility for raising Almighty God’s only Son, and all the unknown factors of His controversial life, and do it without any clear directions in advance? 

No manual.  No instructions.  No training.  No experience.

Yet Mary said, “Yes Lord.  I’m Your servant.  I’ll do this… let it be, just as You’ve said.”

Could a willing submission be the way to allow God’s vision and life to have a place to grow in our lives too?  Is this the secret way to create space for the miraculous? 

I think that the only way to say “YES!” to such an audacious calling is to go a step further than what I already mentioned above.  Yes, we must listen to and believe who God says we are.  Our identity is important - BUT that is still not enough.  Who I am must be grounded in and built upon Who God says HE is.  HIS identity and His character are the solid foundation that I must build my own upon.  If He is not trustworthy, sovereign, omniscient, and good then it will not help me to believe what he has said about me.

Mary’s belief enabled her surrender. 

This is what moved Mary from being “greatly disturbed”, to a place of PEACE.

What if we stop intentionally and often throughout this Christmas season and listen to what God says about Himself and about us?  

Who He says He is and how He has proven Himself to be that.

Who HE says we are and how HE sees us.

All of this goodness and truth is written for us in the most powerful Book and will be whispered by His Spirit to our listening hearts, as we take time to be with Him.

What message does the Christmas angel bring to you this year?  What has God instructed him to proclaim to you about your identity and calling?  Where are you ready to move from doubt and fear to belief and surrender?

Father God, I admit that it can be hard for me to believe You when you tell me that I am favored, beloved, blessed, chosen and called.  And yet You do!  

I repent of my fear that I cannot possibly live up to all of this and for often rejecting it.

I want to live from the position and identity that You have proclaimed over me.

My soul yearns for the promise of PEACE.

I need a fresh impartation of truth to know Who You are more intimately.

Lord I offer my spirit as a hospitable womb. 

Pure by Your Son’s precious blood, available, expectant, 

and willing to have Your life grow within me.

I surrender my need to be ‘enough’ and I say, 

“Yes Lord!  I’m Your servant! Let it be, just as You’ve said!”

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!

And he chose us to be his very own, joining us to himself even before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.

For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace —for the same love he has for his Beloved One, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure!

We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!

Ephesians 1:3-6 ; 2:10  (Passion Translation NT)