In the sixth month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. the angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High….. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

(Lk 1.26-38)

I have a vivid memory of the day when we discovered that I was pregnant with our first child – something we both wanted very much, and rejoiced over. There was at the same time a profound awareness that life had suddenly changed, and that nothing would ever be the same again – one does not ‘get over’ having a baby, in the way that one recovers from a bad cold, or a broken collar bone! In the midst of our rejoicing, there was an element of sadness for the uncomplicated life we were about to lose, and an element of fear for what might lie ahead.

To enter into a marriage, to become a parent, is a life-changing process and one which we enter without much of a clue how it might work out! Mary is presented with God’s message that she is to become the mother of the son of the Most High, to bear a child by the Holy Spirit – it is incomprehensible to us, and to her must have been quite overwhelming. God did not unpack all the details, or outline the consequences for her, but only the mystery of who this child would be – and that was enough for Mary. Perhaps there was a special grace given to her that day, so that she did not panic at the scale of the task appointed to her, but after wondering at its seeming impossibility, she quietly accepts the burden of blessing which is to be hers.

Mary’s beautiful song of praise, recorded later in Luke’s gospel, demonstrates her deep grasp of God’s purposes in history, of the promise of salvation, of the covenant love which shapes and directs the Almighty. She knew that there was a promised deliverer to come, and so although she must have been surprised to be chosen, yet she could see how God was inviting her to step into his purposes, not only for Israel but for all the world.

Mary takes the first step; she says, “Yes”, facing the future as she could only dimly perceive it that day and trusting God who has called her. In future years, she will continue to say, “Yes”; mothering her family, serving her community, and finally following her son to his death in Jerusalem. She cannot see that day now; she cannot know the extent to which her heart will be riven and wracked, only to be flooded with joy and hope at the resurrection. But she steps into obedience, and into believing that the God who called, will also provide what she will need for each and every circumstance arising out of that obedience.

Will I say ,”yes”, to the next step in my path of obedience? I may not be called to anything very dramatic or public, but just like Mary, and every other follower of Jesus, I am called to step into God’s plans, by faith and in trust. I cannot know the consequences of my obedience, nor the trials that may lie ahead of me, but I can follow Mary’s example of acceptance and perseverance.

Heavenly Father, Mary shows me what it means to trust and obey; to be aware of my limitations and weakness and yet set those aside because it is you who calls me, and with you, nothing is impossible. 

Let me then, like Mary, accept your directing and leading, and trust you with the consequences of my obedience. Keep me from fear of the unknown, fear of future trials, fear of my own inadequacy. I would choose not to be afraid, but to say, “yes, Lord, I will as you will; I follow where you lead; I receive from you what I need and look to you to do the impossible, even through me.”

For the glory, and in the name, of my precious Jesus, I pray, Amen.