Advent Devotion ~ How Can This Be? (Day 22)

I was reading through the scripture for the day.... and at first I felt uninspired. I had that moment of wondering if I could do this.. if I could write a devotional, when I felt so dry...and then the Scripture came alive...

To Mary was revealed a huge truth... that she would be with child.. and with the Christ. And her first response was so normal. "How can this be since I am a virgin?" Her response is so understandable to us. I know I can relate. The facts spoke against this revelation. I understood her feeling of incredulity. And I also feel she felt overwhelmed and unprepared.

After all this is how I felt at times, and I have never faced anything of this magnitude. How many times do we ask God how. How can I write this devotional, when I am so uninspired? How can I lead the Sunday school? I don't know enough. How can I be a mentor, when I am so inadequate? How can I ____?

God has plans for each of us. He can use us in wonderful ways both big and small. Throughout God's Word we see God calling people.. and the people saying how can I? But the answer is right here also. "For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

When we are called by God, in the big ways and the small, it is natural, human, to doubt our abilities. And actually that is reasonable. We may not be able to accomplish the deed. But that is not where we need to rest. Our response needs to be as Mary... "I am the Lord's servant." We need to rest in the truth that it is not by our strength or ability that we accomplish God's Will anyway. It is God who is working. "For nothing is impossible with God."

Earlier in a devotional, I posted a lovely Michael Card song that shares this same question... "How can I? How Can it Be?" For those of us who love the Lord, our heart's desire is to follow, but it is our nature to ask how. In some ways it is comforting to know that we are not alone in this. Mary asked how. Joseph also. And David. And Abraham. But after asking how, our hearts need to finish with trusting obedience.

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 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.