May it be done to me according to your word.

Luke 1:26-56 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ “And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
⁵¹ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
⁵² “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
⁵³ “He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
⁵⁴ “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

We often wish that god would reveal the fullness of His plans for us; that He would give us clarity and understanding of what the future holds for us.  Jesus taught us to pray saying: Give us this day our daily bread. That is more than just an entreaty for God to provide what we need to eat. It is a reference to the provision of manna in the wilderness to sustain the Israelites. The purpose of the manna being provided daily, was to teach the Israelites to seek God early each day, not to rely on what was given before and not to worry about tomorrow. In the same way, what was given to us yesterday may not meet the needs of today. We need fresh provision and fresh revelation from God each day and we may not be able to handle tomorrows revelation today. In Matthew 6:34 Jesus says:  “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”    

In today’s text it says:  Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 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 name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  Perhaps if we were more like Mary, who was a young girl presented with life altering information about what was going to happen in her life; that she would be put in a position to be ridiculed and rejected and possibly stoned to death, yet her response was: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word,” perhaps then God would reveal more of His plan for our lives. The truth is, for many of us, if we knew in advance some of the difficulties we would face in walking with the Lord, we might respond more like Jonah, who ran from God’s will and His plan, than Mary who said, may it be according to Your word. Perhaps that’s why we find ourselves at times, like Jonah, in the belly of a whale. It might not be that like Him we are actually swallowed up by a great fish, but we find ourselves isolated in situations and circumstances that cause us to seek God.

What if we truly sought God early each day?  What if our daily prayer was like the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden on the night that he was betrayed and arrested. “Not my will, but yours be done."   What if we committed to do as the psalmist says in Psalm 37:3-6:  Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.  If we truly took God at His word when He says in Jeremiah 29:11-14: I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, perhaps then God could trust us enough to reveal more of His plan to us and for us. 

What if Mary’s reaction to her situation and circumstance; what if her declaration was ours?  “My soul exalts the Lord,  And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.
He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”  What if we said Amen?