Fearless Servant - from 9.16.08

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon 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 barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:28-38

Observations: I can only imagine all that must have been floating through Mary’s mind with the news that: 1) she was pregnant, and 2) the baby was the Son of God. She may have thought, “Highly what!?” The truth is that anytime God is at work in us and through us, we are highly favored and have no need to fear. Mary’s response is classic: “I am the Lord’s servant.”

Application: As I seek a new level of listening to God and following His promptings, I need to remember three aspects of this passage:
1. I am under God’s favor, not His wrath. I’ve nothing to fear when following His promptings.
2. “Nothing is impossible with God.” Where God leads, God provides. As God provides, (or doesn’t) He is leading.
3. “I am the Lord’s servant.” What God wants to do through me is more important than what I want to do for Him (or for myself, of course). Life in its fullness is found in full surrender to God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, given what I know about You and my relationship with You, I should never be afraid. Give me a heart like Mary’s; one that simply says, “I am the Lord’s servant.”