Hope in the Overwhelming
Hope in the Overwhelming
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
Do you find yourself trapped in an overwhelming, astounding, or confounding circumstance in which your only response is shocked and terrified?
Well, Christmas is not just about having the perfect celebration. Christmas is also about our plans under God's interruptions. God shows up and overturns many of the plans we have made. He does so for His glory and our good. He has a grander plan that is coming true and He is inviting us to be participants in it. Embracing God’s call on our lives requires that we hope. Hope that all will be well according to His perfect plans.
No greater example of this can be found than in the person of Mary. She goes from being just a young, simple woman to being called Blessed among women. From just being engaged to a carpenter to being engaged in the cosmic plan of God. She’s just a girl from a small town of Bethlehem who is getting ready for marriage life to be invited into a much larger plan, a plan which will “ruin” many plans that she has made. She went from planning a wedding and preparing for a simple family to being the surrogate mother of the Savior of the world. It sounds unbelievable, and astonishing, isn’t it?
I am sure you have had your plans interrupted too. Interrupted by crisis or catastrophe or this pandemic. The loss of a job, the unexpected diagnosis, the unanticipated accident. Something you didn’t see coming which makes you wonder what is going on and whether God is still in control.
Watch how Mary handles it. As we go through the story, notice some thrills of hope through the life of Mary who reveals some important lessons on how to remain hopeful when God interrupts our plans and interweave it into His plan.
1. Face Your Fears with God’s Presence (v.26-30)
Imagine yourself in Mary’s sandals. You are just a simple teenager barely trying to make it in life and maybe anxious to start a marriage, then suddenly a heavenly announcement, an angelic encounter, an humongous plan?
This is truly more than what she could comprehend and bear. But notice what Gabriel said in verse 28-30,
28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
To summarize what Gabriel said to Mary…Don’t be scaredYou are highly graced by God, andGod is with you.
There are some things you just don’t want to go through alone. Christmas, for instance. It’s so hard to go through Christmas alone. We don’t like to go through TROUBLE alone, either. If you get sick with nobody to comfort you, you’ll probably be more miserable. When you lose your job, or your spouse or your child, you need somebody with you to help you make it through.
Mary can’t go through this overwhelming news alone. And God’s antidote to this terrifying situation is Himself. “Don’t you worry Mary, I know this is going to be so overwhelming for you, but I’m here.” Don’t you need to hear that assurance from God during these times?
The one Person you need more than anybody else when you face problems is the Lord. Mary saw that no matter what she faced, as one of God’s children, God was with her.
One of the titles given to Jesus was “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” One of the great themes of the Old Testament is the concept of God living with His people. Jesus is our Immanuel. He is “God with us.”
Human life was meant to be God-inhabited. Our religion is not organized around keeping God at a distance. It allows us to go see him when we want. If I really want God to be with me, then my life will be extremely different from ordinary human life.
We are meant to be God-inhabited. Jesus came to make God’s presence a conscious, living reality in our life. Whatever problems you are facing right now--whatever worries and fears are harassing your heart--don’t let them discourage you. No matter what your problems, the Lord is with you. Bring those problems to Him and trust Him to work them out, and He will, just as surely as He worked them all out for Mary.
The same God that was present in the life of Mary makes that same promise to you and to me today as we resonate Christmas.
Psalm 118:6 - The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Hebrews 13:5 - …“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Forsake your fears with the assurance of God’s presence with you always.
2. Fight Your Frustrations Through God’s Power (v.34-37)
Sometimes we get too frustrated with our problems and pressing needs that we go numb and spiritually or mentally paralyzed. How did Mary maintain her hopes in the midst of this big fuss?
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
In response to the overwhelming truth that's been given to her, she asks the question, how? Take note, Mary’s question here is not perfidious, like Zechariah’s. It is not that she doubts, it is not that she doesn't believe. She does believe. She doesn't understand how it can happen.
Let me tell you that miracles during those times were very rare. In fact, for the last 400 years, Israel never experienced a miracle from God. There hadn't been any miracles in over 400 years. There hadn't been any series of miracles in well beyond that, since the days of Elijah. No one had seen an angel in over 500 years. Miracles didn't happen. They weren't normal. They weren't routine. They weren't common place. No one had seen an angel, heard a word from God, or experienced a miracle in centuries.
Then all of a sudden it all happens. God speaks through an angel about a miracle. She wasn't used to explaining or understanding miracles in a non-miraculous world like she lived in and we live in. She believed. She just couldn't understand how.
How is this possible to be pregnant while a virgin? Mary gives testimony to her virginity, she gives testimony to the understanding that this was not just a prediction, that she would get married and have a baby. The question indicates she knew she was going to be pregnant as a virgin. But how?
Gabriel offered God’s way of doing His plan.
35 The angel answered, "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. 36 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. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
Mary didn’t UNDERSTAND it, but she also DIDN’T DOUBT it. She didn’t know HOW a virgin birth could even happen, but she knew God’s ability to do it coz nothing is impossible with Him.
Even after all these centuries, Jesus’ miraculous conception and virgin birth remains impossible to understand by human reason alone. God chose not to explain the details of it to us. The real issue is NOT whether a virgin can conceive; but whether ANYTHING is impossible for God.
3. Fortify Your Faith with God’s Providence (v.38)
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Despite the shame that was sure to come her way, despite the humiliation she would bear, Mary was willing to fortify her faith in God by submitting to herself to God’s will and providence. In doing so, she sets and example of obedience and surrender that every child of God needs to take to heart.
You and I would do well to learn to submit to the will of the Lord in every detail of life. We need never fear the providential hand of God, for He will never do us wrong! Regardless of what may come our way in life, we can rest assured that God is going to use it to get glory to Himself and to help us learn more about Him.
Beyond all of her questions and confusions and perplexity, there was a desire to humbly submit to what the Lord had called her to.
Without this last attribute, we are liable to become arrogant or bitter when approaching God. God wants us to seek Him. But He wants to show us He is a good God that can be trusted with our lives, that He has a good plan for His glory and our good.
It is not always going to make sense or be able to be explained in a way as to answer all questions. So we need to be able to trust and submit. Without this, we will always be waiting for surety to decide for ourselves. Or we will be waiting for all the answers before we decide to lay down our objections or our hurt or our bitterness.
God calls us to realize that He is bigger than us, wiser than us, and loves us. Therefore, He can be trusted even when we can’t understand what He is up to.
Closing
When Mary was called to become the bearer of the Son of God, she said yes. Would you say yes to God too?
God still wants men and women, children and adults to become bearers of His Son today. As Mary was an instrument of God’s divine salvation, we also must be today. If only we are willing to forsake our fears because we have God’s presence; fight our feebleness by claiming God’s power and fortify our faith by submitting to God’s providence.
May our answer be like that of Mary:
“I am Your servant Lord; Be it to me according to Your word.”Amen.