There is a story in Luke 1 about Mary going to visit her cousin Elizabeth shortly after she is told by the angel Gabriel that she will give birth to Jesus. Elizabeth’s husband had been visited by this same angel many months before this, and he was told that his wife would conceive a son named John, who would “be great in the sight of the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17 NIV).
Elizabeth and her husband were very old, and they had never been able to have children before. Upon Mary’s arrival at Elizabeth’s home, the Bible says:
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her” (Luke 1:41-45).
After this Mary responded, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” (v. 46-48).
This passage speaks a couple of things to me: there is great joy to be found in Jesus, and we are blessed when believe that He is good.
We all know that worrying and doubting is certainly not a joyous condition. I’m learning that when we choose to focus on God’s faithfulness and believe that He is the loving God He says is, joy is a natural result. Mary and Elizabeth knew this first hand. Their reactions to God promising to do something in their lives were not doubt and fear, but praise and expectation.
I love that the first thing the angel said to Mary when he appeared to her was, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!” (Luke 1:28) and that the last thing he said was, “For no word from God will ever fail” (v.38).
We, too, are highly favored and loved dearly as daughters of God, and we can trust Him when He says “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV). He truly means it when He says He has “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). We can trust God when we remember that He loves us beyond what we could ever understand and have faith that because He loves us so much, He wants to take care of us and to demonstrate His perfectly faithful character.
As we focus on the Lord this advent season and every day, I pray that He will reveal the joy that He offers us through faith in His goodness and His love for us. When we acknowledge that God is a good God who promises to lovingly take care of us, we are able to view things more light-heartedly, and our lives are blessed with joy.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.”
(Psalm 84:11-12 NIV)
Lo! He Comes, An Infant Stranger
Words by: Richard Mant
Lo! he comes, an infant stranger, of a lowly mother born,
Swathed and cradled in a manger, of his pristine glory shorn!
Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! Praise the incarnate Word of God!
Lo! he comes, by man unfriended, fain with stable-beast to rest;
Shepherds, who their night-fold tended, hailed alone the new-born guest.
Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! Praise ye Jesse’s tender rod!
Lo! he comes; but who the weakness of his coming may declare,
When, with more than human meekness, more than human woes he bare?
Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! Praise him, emptied of his might!
Lo! he comes, around him pouring all the armies of the sky;
Cherub-, seraph-host, adoring, swell his state and loudly cry:
Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! Praise ye him, the living Light!
Credit: Photo by Rachel K Duncan // http://www.rachelkduncan.com // Instagram: @rachelkduncan
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