Incredible Faith

Two years ago, my life changed forever when I learned how to connect to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Two years ago, I read the wrong passage for my devotional and I stumbled upon the Gospel of John's version of the crucifixion. John's Gospel is the only one that specifies that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was standing at the cross. In that moment I was connected to Jesus through the eyes of his fully human mother. I felt my heart break as I thought about that fully human woman standing watching her son be brutally tortured and hang upon the cross. I think that I connect with Mary because she was fully human and I think she speaks to the part of my heart that wants to one day be a mother. Through this incredible woman I learned who my Savior was and I fell into his arms--my faith and life were transformed forever.In the last two years I have entered into an intimate relationship with God that I never dreamed I would experience. As I listened to Pentatonix version of 'Mary Did You Know' last night I was reminded of that moment two years ago and I thought about this woman's incredible faith. As the words were laid on my heart and I prepared to go write them--my mother brought up how she was truly amazed at Mary's faith.So many people scoff at Mary and the virgin birth, writing it off as pure fiction and in some cases judging those who believe it as a bit delusional. Even today I read a comment in response to an article I read, which completely wrote off the virgin birth. I can understand where these people come from--it truly is difficult to believe in such an amazing story. But if you take a closer look you will see that the faith it takes to believe in the story is the exact same faith it took to make the story happen. If Mary had not sung her faithful praise then the story would be completely different.Luke 1:26-38"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a townie Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'How can this gem since I am a virgin?' The angel said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of god. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.' Then Mary said, 'Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her."I think about my faith and how limited it is. There are times that I simply want to ignore and do ignore God's call. There have been some very big calls that I couldn't even say yes to, instead uttering a miserable "ok." Yet, this woman (who was probably about 12-14 years of age) managed to trust in the Lord and the angel's words, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. In my study bible this verse has a footnote which reads:"Mary's unsolicited consent to the divine word establishes her as a model disciple who discerns God's activity even in the midst of circumstances that place her precariously outside of social convention" (The Discipleship Study Bible).She stepped out in faith and chose to believe in all that the angel said to her.Just a few short lines later, we see Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth greets her with a cry of:"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb...And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." (Luke 1:41-45)This is one of my all time favorite passages, in fact it is currently the lock screen of my phone. Blessed is she who believed there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. This woman praised the Lord, despite the scandal her pregnancy would cause, despite how difficult this would make her life. That, my friends, is incredible faith. Just as Elizabeth said: Blessed is she who believed the Lord would fulfill the promises made to her. I am in awe of Mary's reaction to this scary news. Instead of running away, arguing or simply saying nope I don't want this she accepts the words that the angel has spoken to her--then continues to sing praises to God.Luke 1:46-49"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name."If you have not listened to Pentatonix version of 'Mary, Did You Know?' I urge you to go do so. It not only is a fantastic version of the song, just listen to the words and think about that young 12-14 year old woman who boldly believed in God and the promises made to her.It is clearly obvious I have immense admiration, respect and love for Mary. This woman and her incredible faith have allowed me the chance to draw nearer to my Lord and Savior. So during this Christmas season I will give thanks for her incredible faith and I will sing praises to the God who I believe will fulfill all the promises she makes.I hope that you (and I) are able to step out in faith, to draw nearer to God and trust that there will be a fulfillment of all that God has spoken to us. This Christmas season lets try and choose to have incredible faith.May the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.Peace, Joy, Blessings and SO MUCH LOVE,Margaret