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\u201cHow will this be,\u201d Mary asked the angel, \u201csince I am a virgin?\u201d The angel answered, \u201cThe Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s servant,\u201d Mary answered. \u201cMay your word to me be fulfilled.\u201d Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:34-38).

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony highlighted that Mary was receptive, \u201cready to hear and attend to the voice of God\u2026But she is not well prepared to be so unquestioningly received by God. This is what greatly troubled her. That she is favoured, and that God is with her: that\u2019s what gave her pause and sent her mind reeling.\u201d

Among the various ways to reflect on this angel visitation, continuing with Mary\u2019s response may be the most beneficial. Even though the events that take place with her are unique, her attitudes and response are held up within the narrative as exemplary and worthy of praise.

Let us appreciate that she is honored by God not because of her own merit or because she has done anything, but simply because she is the chosen vessel for this display of God\u2019s grace. This is a beautiful thing. God choose her simply because. She reflects the person whom God unexpectedly chooses to use, bringing no outstanding credentials to the task and living on the edge of the nation. She brings nothing on her r\xe9sum\xe9.

Many of us live with this nagging sense that we are unusable, our r\xe9sum\xe9s too thin. God will have none of that. He created us! Though we may be marred and broken by sin, we are never beyond repair. Nor are we ever beyond use for his purposes. We may ask, \u201cHow will this be" that salvation will work around all the obstacles of sin, ignorance, and defiance that I place in its path? "How will this be" that God troubles with so wretched, self-centred, inconsistent, and spiritually impoverished person as me? God simple responds, \u201cWatch me!\u201d

Like Mary we may initially resist when God comes calling. But we are invited to move from fright to willingness. Mary says, \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.\u201d She is not saying, \u201cIt\u2019s so clear now! I get it!\u201d nor \u201cI love this plan and I\u2019m excited to be part of it.\u201d She is saying, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t all make sense to me, but I will pursue, I will follow.\u201d

This is an important space for us to occupy. Some of us will make no move toward Jesus unless it all comes together for us\u2014rationally, emotionally, and personally. It is either rapturous joy in God or nothing at all. But often we can only do what Mary does\u2014submit and trust despite the fears and reservations. That gives us a foothold for moving forward.

Mary\u2019s response reveals her character. \u201cLet it be to me as you have said\u201d (38). This was no simple matter. She is being asked to bear a child as a virgin without being married. In joining God and his redemption plan, she will probably become the object of much doubt and ridicule. But Mary knows she is God\u2019s servant, so she will allow God to work through her as he wills. He can place her in whatever difficult circumstances he desires, for she knows that God is with her.

The apostle Paul invites us to make this our permanent posture towards God. To the Galatians, he wrote, \u201cSince we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit\u201d (5:25). We do not, in fact, we cannot know where the Spirit may lead us. When we cannot see how God can use us, God says, \u201cWatch me!\u201d When we do not know where we need to go, God says, \u201cTrust me!\u201d

Take time this Advent to sit with Mary. See her move from \u201cWhat on earth\u201d to \u201cAlright Lord, I will trust you.\u201d And let the Spirit lead you on the same journey.