Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/909943
DECEMBER 12 7 "And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her." —Luke 1:38, ESV T wo years after my husband and I got married, we decided to start a family. Many of our friends began having kids around the same time, and we watched the children multiply around us as we inexplicably struggled to conceive our first. Five years have passed, and to this day our efforts have been entirely in vain. It may seem odd that in the midst of a struggle with unexplained infertility, I would feel a deep kinship with Mary, the mother of Jesus. She didn't have to try at all to get pregnant with her first child. Yet, as I reflect on her story this Advent season, I am struck by her exceptional statement: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." For much of my life, I blitzed right past this verse. I grew up in a church that didn't talk much about suffering, so when the angel approached the virgin Mary with news that her entire life would be turned upside down, I was taught that Mary's obedient response indicated that she possessed a heroic faith able to disregard her own circumstances and accept without difficulty her new reality. If that were true, I would find her faith unattainable and her flippancy unbelievable. Our faith shouldn't require us to deny reality. Thinking about it now, I believe the key to understanding Mary's response is actually found in the verse immediately prior, when the angel reminds her that "nothing will be impossible with God" (v. 37). Mary didn't have the luxury of disregarding her circumstances. She was an underprivileged minority woman living under Roman oppression who would become inexplicably pregnant with the child who would overthrow the world with His kingdom. Her situation would cause her suffering on every strata of her life, and in that moment, it probably seemed impossible to manage. She didn't need to disregard the difficulty of her situation; she needed a God larger than her situation. Her courage and obedience poured from her understanding of the magnitude of God's character: He keeps His promises, carries us in our suffering, and provides all that we need. This Advent season, may we remember that, even in the midst of our circumstances, we serve a God with whom nothing is impossible. He is worthy of our faith. Amy Carr Director of Admissions Nothing is Impossible with God