Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” [Luke 1:34,38 (NLT)]
Angels taking on bodily form and appearing to people certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Although they are God’s messengers, the message angels bring can be good news or bad. While they may help God’s people as they did for Elijah and Daniel, angels also execute God’s judgment as they did when striking down the firstborn males in Egypt. I suspect Gabriel looked fiercer and more powerful than the elegant sweet angels hanging on our Christmas trees. When he arrived unannounced in the empty Temple sanctuary, Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear and, when he suddenly appeared in an empty room in Nazareth, Mary was troubled and perplexed. Not knowing whether he was on a mission of judgment or mercy, it’s no wonder both Zechariah and Mary were fearful. Gabriel began his visits by telling them both not to be afraid.
After being told his elderly barren wife would bear him a son, Zechariah’s response was one of doubt: “How can I be sure this will happen?” Rather than rejoicing at the divine promise of a son, Zechariah focused on the impossibility of such a thing happening. When Mary was given the startling news that she would conceive and give birth, she knew that babies weren’t brought by the stork or found in a cabbage patch. As a virgin, a pregnancy seemed impossible, but she didn’t question the veracity of the angel’s words. Although Zechariah questioned the truth of Gabriel’s revelation, Mary didn’t express doubt that she would bear a son. Her response was that of wonder. Wanting to know the process by which this miracle would happen, she simply asked “But how?”
After explaining that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, Gabriel told Mary that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was pregnant and that, “Nothing is impossible with God!” Knowing that her barren cousin was with child may have reassured Mary that what seems impossible can happen. Nevertheless, their situations were different; Elizabeth was married and Mary was not! Mary’s response, however, was that of willing submission. Putting her unknown future into God’s hands, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” [Luke 1:38]
Our typical response when God calls us to His work is often one of disbelief. Abraham couldn’t see how his people would possess Canaan, Sarah couldn’t see how God could give her a child when her child-bearing days were over, Moses couldn’t believe he could convince both the Israelites and Pharaoh, Gideon even demanded signs before questioning his ability to rescue Israel, Samuel couldn’t see how he could anoint a new king without being killed by Saul, and Zechariah asked how he could believe the angel. Initially, none of them believed that our all-powerful God, the creator of the universe, can do the impossible!
Unlike Moses, Mary didn’t try to squirm out of this unexpected turn of events with excuses; unlike Sarah, she didn’t laugh in unbelief; unlike Gideon, she didn’t ask for a series of signs; unlike Samuel, she didn’t point out the problems she was sure to face; and, unlike Zechariah, she believed the angel’s words and left the details to the One for whom nothing is unachievable!
Do we forget that God doesn’t have the limitations we have? He can make manna appear, feed 5,000 with a few fish and loaves, part the sea, walk on water, still storms, restore sight to the blind, put babies in barren wombs, and raise the dead. Nevertheless, when called by God to serve, do we allow the unfeasibility, impracticality, or size of His task to keep us from stepping out in faith and doing His work? Could we be missing God’s blessings because we’re too busy focusing on the human problems instead of responding in faith and trusting God with the details? Let us never forget that nothing is impossible with God. He will work out the how; we just need to submit as readily as did Mary.
When a friend won a trivia contest because she knew the day and year Elvis Presley died, I asked how she recalled the exact date. She replied, “I remember because August 16, 1977, was the day I traded one king for another one—it’s the day I accepted Jesus!” Indeed, it is an important date for her to remember. I don’t know when my mother-in-law became a Christ follower but my father-in-law marked his acceptance of Jesus with his baptism at the age of 17 (in 1925). I only know this because my in-laws kept a certificate attesting to his baptism in their safe deposit box along their birth certificates, passports, voter registrations, social security cards, and marriage certificate.
Back in the days before coronary artery bypass surgery and angioplasty, my father had heart disease and often suffered from the burning chest pain of angina. When that occurred, he would stop briefly, place a nitroglycerin tablet under his tongue, and his pain would ease. Medical nitroglycerin acts as a vasodilator by dilating or expanding the blood vessels so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood through those vessels.
Aaron’s four sons were priests and, in Leviticus 10, his oldest sons Nadab and Abihu offer incense to God in the Tabernacle. The incense symbolized the people’s prayers rising up to God and the coals used for burning it were to be taken from the altar of burnt offerings outside the sanctuary. Although priests were required to fulfill their duties precisely, Scripture tells us the two offered “strange” or “unauthorized” fire and were immediately consumed by fire from God!
Because the literacy rate in the 1st century was around 10 to 15%, only a few people could read the Hebrew Scriptures or Apostolic letters. By necessity, the new faith came about through public reading and preaching. In his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul warned of a time when sound doctrine would no longer be tolerated. Rather than reproof, rebuke, exhortation, and instruction, people would want to have their itching ears knéthó (meaning tickled or scratched). Rather than knowledge and doctrine, they’d be more interested in myths, sensationalism, and viewpoints suiting their desires. I fear that time has come!
Devotions of the Heart 