Mary, the mother of Jesus
Mary must have been a very special young woman. She was the one who was chosen to be the mother of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. She could not have been just anybody. Who was Mary?
Mary did not think of herself as someone great. She trusted God and fully believed that He guided her life, even when circumstances seemed unbelievable. Mary can teach us a lot about faith and being humble.
Just a normal young woman from Nazareth
This young Jewish girl was just living a normal life in Nazareth, a small village in Galilee. Then one day an angel came to her and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor [grace] with God.” Luke 1:30. She had been chosen out of all the women on earth to bear God’s Son! She was to name Him Jesus. The angel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and in this way she would become the mother of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son.
No matter how unbelievable this sounded, Mary bravely answered, “I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said.” Luke 1:38 (CEV). She fully trusted and believed in God!
“Let it happen as you have said!”
We all come into situations that test our faith. Perhaps I come into a situation in which the normal reaction would be to worry. Then the question is if I truly believe that God perfectly guides my life, if I can completely let go of all thoughts of worry, and believe the verse that says, “Don’t worry about anything.” Philippians 4:6 (GNT). Then we can, in our own way, in our own situations, say to God, “I am Your servant! Let it happen as You have said. Take care of me, like You have promised. Now I am throwing all my care upon You, and I choose to believe.”
Cast all your care upon God: A practical solution that works
There are many other ways where we can show our faith in our normal daily lives. If God tells us to give, even if we may not have so much, we can immediately choose to believe Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you.” When God tells us in our heart about a family that is in need, and we are tempted to think only about our own comfort, we can rather choose to believe the verse that says, “Whoever gives to others will get richer.” Proverbs 11:25 (NCV).
What happens when we choose to trust God’s Word and do what He tells us to do? We experience that God is truthful! He keeps to His Word, just as He did for Mary who experienced that it happened exactly as the angel had told her.
Mary praised God, not herself
Mary did not try to understand and work out everything with her human understanding. She trusted God and fully believed Him, not thinking of herself as someone great. After the angel left her, she praised God who had seen her lowly state and given her this great task.
“My heart praises the Lord; my soul is glad because of God my Savior, for he has remembered me, his lowly servant! From now on all people will call me happy, because of the great things the Mighty God has done for me. His name is holy.” Luke 1:46-50 (GNT).
Mary shows us that those who see themselves as small are valuable to God, and He cares about them. All He is looking for is that they believe Him! Mary was not a queen or someone important, but God still chose her. Throughout her life she had shown that she saw God as everything and herself as nothing. This is the kind of person God wants to use! He saw Mary’s humble heart, and she became the mother of Jesus. She had the right attitude of mind.
We can have the same faith
It is said about Mary, “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45 (NLT).
This verse can also apply to us. Just think if you can write your own name there. It can become reality! But then we must be tried and tested, and be faithful to God’s voice in our daily lives. Let us humble ourselves and set aside our own strong will, opinions, and human understanding. Then God will be able to use us!