Luke 1:34
Mary asked the
angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”
An innocent
question asked by a naive teenaged girl. You didn’t mind her question, did you,
Abba? It’s interesting - You DID mind when Zacharias asked a similar question.
There wasn’t a lot of difference in the words Zacharias used and the ones Mary
spoke. I have to believe that the difference was in the heart attitude behind
the questions. Zacharias’s question seems more to be challenging the veracity
of the angel’s statement. It seems to carry an undertone of doubt or
skepticism. That would explain why he was punished for it, wouldn’t it? Mary’s
question, on the other hand, was just a simple and sincerely asked question.
Father, I thank You, that You are welcoming of our questions any time they are
asked from a sincere heart honestly seeking understanding and
revelation.
Our human
minds like logic, order and reason. But sometimes, Father, those things can
cause us to miss Your will completely, can’t they? If we rely on logic and
reason alone, where does it leave faith? How often we want to explain what we
cannot figure out. The older I get, Master, the more I’m coming to appreciate
that some of Your mysteries will never be understood . . . at least not this
side of heaven. Is that why I appreciate them more than I once did . . .
because I’m drawing daily closer to heaven’s glory in this winter of my life
and fast approaching the day when my faith will become sight?
Thank You,
Father, for the mystery of salvation and new birth. Jesus said our new birth was like the
wind; we can hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it came from or where
it is going. My salvation and the changes being born again bring into my life is as mysterious and as CERTAIN as the wind; but, I
embrace its mystery. I embrace its certainty. And.
Thank You,
Father, for the mystery of Jesus’ second coming. It is not for us to know the
time or date . . . regardless of some ancient Mayan calendar. This is a mystery
that thrills us with moment-by-moment anticipation. Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
Mary submitted
herself to the mystery that Your “hows” are never very rational, didn’t she,
Lord? She came face to face with Your sovereign will and the realization that
she was not in charge of her own destiny. In an instant, her life changed
forever. We live today, Master, more than two thousand years this side of
Mary’s time and the birth of our Savior. But. Your sovereign will still exits. And. And.
Oh, precious
Father, wonderful things happen when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and the
power of the Almighty overshadows us! It seems to me that when the mystery of
Your sovereign will comes into our lives we basically have two choices. We can
wrestle with You – which is what Zacharias did in the way he asked his
question. Or – we can REST in You like Mary did. We can continue our quest for
logic and reason and keep searching the unsearchable. Or – we can relax in the
reality.
Father, help
me be like Mary and give in fully to Your divine plan for my life without
struggling. Help me have the innocence of Mary to ask only “how” and not “why.”
Oh, may I REST in You. Move me, Master, from logic, reasoning, and perplexity
to faith-filled purpose. Remove my over-loaded schedule and replace it with the
Spirit’s promptings. Change my busyness with its frustrations to every good and
perfect work You ordained for me. Be my audience of One. Let me seek Your
approval – not man’s. Let me wait on Your timing. Let me lean on Your
sufficiency. Let me depend on You for results.
You are great,
and do wondrous things; You alone are God.
Teach me Your
way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.
I will praise
You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name
forevermore.
Psalm 86:10-12
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