The past couple of weeks, I have pondered Mary’s words recorded in Luke 1:46-47,
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
We often forget that although Mary and Joseph both had a word from the angel Gabriel, there was nothing easy about what they endured. And there were still plenty of opportunities to doubt.
The ridicule, social embarrassment and shaming would have been significant. Then they had to travel to Bethlehem so close to the due date. Riding on a donkey at nine months pregnant—I can’t even imagine. Then to arrive, exhausted, ready to give birth and discover there was no hotel room, no place for them.
Can you imagine the questions? Wouldn’t that make any of us question, where was God? What about His help? Why were things so hard if God was in it? Didn’t He care? Wasn’t He going to provide?
And yet in spite of it all, Mary chose look past the circumstances and hardships to glorify the Lord and rejoice in God. Despite the challenges. Despite the questions.
I have pondered her response, realizing it needs to be our own as we continue to walk through these challenging times where we wonder where God is. Will He provide? Does He care? Is He in this?
And the answer, as Mary discovered is He is definitely in it, and working in ways we can only imagine. Like Jesus’ birth, every detail was planned out. Every event specific. Every need met.
Whatever challenge you are facing this week…this next year, may this be your reminder to remember and ponder as Mary did. And may it be the anchor of your hope and faith.
God sees. He hears you. He will provide.
Father God, like Mary we raise our hands and our voices to You to declare, our soul does magnify the Lord! And our spirit rejoices in God our Savior! You are the mighty God. The everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. The Ancient of Days. And we put our trust in You.
Lord, You know these are challenging times for us. It is sometimes hard to understand why things are happening as they are—and wondering if You hear us. But like Mary, we choose to trust and realize that You are working behind the scenes and we will see the hand of the Lord and the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
And so, we offer our hearts and our praise to You. We declare Your praise and that Your glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Come Lord, our hearts wait expectantly for You.