Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Grace and Peace,
My hope is that as you read this you are renewed. This is because that is what I have found, renewal. The passage above is from Mary, mother of Jesus. It wasn’t long after being told that she would become the mother of Christ, in fact, it is her response to it.
I wish my heart could be in this kind of place when faced with an opportunity of worry. I remember each time my wife told me she was pregnant. Feelings of inadequacy washed over me. I feel like I can barely take care of myself let alone a helpless child. But here is Mary, a pre-teen/young teenager as young as 12 or 13 years old, has just been told that she is going to give birth to Jesus, the sacrifice for all mankind. Don’t forget that she wasn’t married, lived in a rural area, and if her family rejected her could be dragged into the street, stripped down, and beaten to death. She would carry with her the potential shame of being an adulterer and whore. And what do the scriptures show us she is doing… PRAISING GOD!
For me there is no better example of what to do in the face of adversity than this. When financial troubles arise, instead of freaking out or worrying, I will in turn praise God. When work stress, family stress, illness, or anything presents I will not say… Erik, we can handle this, instead I will praise God and trust in him for he IS a God who is attentive, who is personal, and who is with me with each and everyday.
Dear reader, my prayer is that your lives intersect with God and you never deviate from that path. My hope is that you will see that the script of your life is rewritten when you accept Christ as your savior, and my longing is that you seek the Holy Spirit to keep you in a song of praise as life throws its little challenges at you.
Shalom,
Erik
