December 12, 2018
“And Mary said ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.’” – Luke 1:46-49
Luke 1:46-55 is often called “Mary’s song.” In this passage she is singing a song of praise to God for what He is doing in and through her. I think we can read parts of this passage, like “all generations will call me blessed,” and think that this almost sounds like gloating. But to really understand what Mary is saying here, we must take a fresh look at this well-known story. God is doing a mighty work, and Mary has been given a special place in that work. Her place, however, is no easy assignment. She finds herself at this time to be a pregnant, unwed teenager. The baby inside her has no earthly explanation and those around her would hardly believe her incredible story. But beyond this, I cannot comprehend the immense weight of raising the most precious child the world has ever known. I can’t imagine the confusion she wrestled with as she, like everyone else, struggled to understand Jesus’ mission here on earth. And I cannot begin to fathom the incredible agony she must have felt as her beloved boy hung on the cross. We would all look back and call Mary blessed among women, and we have all seen God’s love and faithfulness through His work in her. But no matter how blessed her role was in God’s plan for mankind, it was by no means pleasant or easy.
We often desire for God to work in awesome ways in our life. We often believe that we truly desire to have everyone around us see God’s incredible goodness and faithfulness through our life. But is this what we truly desire, or are we simply wanting to show how much God bends to our will and makes our lives easy? The prayer for God to use you to show His goodness and faithfulness is not a prayer to be taken lightly. Most of the men and women in Scripture and in history that would be called blessed because of God’s incredible work in and through them would not be seen as fortunate in the eyes of the world. Are you truly ready to be called blessed among God’s people?
Father, we ask for Your hand in our lives. We submit to Your purposes and not our own desires. We pray that we may be blessed with the incredible privilege of showing Your goodness and faithfulness to the world around us.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Shane Cannon
