We have been looking at the gift of Christ, and it has been simply amazing. Do you know that God is extremely mindful of us? He will often work miracles just to show how much He favors us. He did this with Mary, calling her blessed and highly favored and the chosen mother of the Messiah. She wasn’t the only one that was blessed with child though. Her cousin Elisabeth was with child too and would give birth to John the Baptist.
God was working a two-fold miracle. He blessed a virgin with a child, as well as an old woman that had passed child bearing stage of life. Both were connected to the promise of salvation and were signs that the Messiah had come!
Let us take a moment however and look more closely at their situations. In both cases an angel appeared bringing good tidings of the event that was to unfold. Both Zacharias and Mary were confused by the message, but their final response was different and shows where their heart was upon hearing it. Consider Zacharia’s response:
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. – Luke 1:18
In terms of Mary, here is her response:
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. - Luke 1:38
Do you see the difference? Sometimes people even struggle at the blessings of God. They spend their lives, in unbelief and self-pity as the norm so that when God chooses to bless them, they refuse to believe. However, you can see in the case of Zacharias that God was not amused with His unbelief.
This is because unbelief is a form of pride. When we exalt our situations above the power of God to bring the change He intends, we move to unrighteousness.
What is it that is happening in your life? What are the things that you have been praying about? Do you really believe that God can perform the miracle? Or do you pray in fear, despair and distress? If the latter is true for you, God is not regarding those prayers. Everything we do must be done in faith.
Given these revelations, why not be like Mary? Receive what God has for you without mumbling. Trust His love for you. Whether God gives you your desires or not, it is the wealth of God’s love being poured out upon you. Whatever it is that God sends your way, let it be to you as it was to Mary. Say to the Lord …be it unto me according to thy word.